Anatomy of an Email Scam

Learn a practical, repeatable methodology for evaluating suspicious emails & reducing the risk of fraud, phishing, business-email compromise
About this Event

Speaker: Louis Kern, President, GloBIS – Global Business Information Services

Every day, business owners, executives, exporters, lenders, and procurement professionals receive emails that appear legitimate at first glance. Some are obvious scams. Others are sophisticated impersonation attempts designed to steal information, redirect payments, harvest company data, or initiate fraud.

This practical session walks participants through three real-world examples, ranging from an obvious scam to a highly convincing supplier-registration fraud impersonating a major international corporation.

Using actual emails received by the presenter, attendees will learn how to:

• Identify common red flags before clicking links or opening attachments

• Distinguish between a display name, sender address, and hidden Reply-To address

• Investigate suspicious domains using publicly available WHOIS records

• Recognize domain impersonation techniques, including look-alike and newly registered domains

• Verify whether a domain is genuinely associated with the company it claims to represent

• Access & interpret email header information in Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and other platforms

• Use AI tools to assist with analyzing email headers, authentication records, and technical indicators

• Understand key concepts such as SPF, DKIM, DMARC, Reply-To manipulation, and domain age—without requiring a technical background

Participants will leave with a practical, repeatable methodology for evaluating suspicious emails and reducing the risk of fraud, phishing, business-email compromise, and supplier-registration scams.

The presentation is designed for business professionals rather than IT specialists and emphasizes simple investigative techniques that can be applied immediately using tools already available on most computers and smartphones.