Part of our Scam Spotlight series — plain-language breakdowns of specific phishing and scam patterns we see, building on our Understanding Spam and Phishing Emails (Basics) article.
You get an email that looks like it's from an email provider, bank, or IT/support team, warning that your account has a problem — unusual sign-in activity, a full mailbox, an expired password, or a policy violation. It asks you to click a button or link to “verify your account,” “confirm your identity,” or “restore access” right away. The link leads to a fake sign-in page built to look like the real thing, designed to capture your username and password the moment you type them in.
Subject: Immediate Action Required – Unusual Sign-in Activity Detected
From: Account Security <security-alert@usfamily.net>Dear Customer,
We detected an unusual sign-in attempt on your account. To keep your account secure, please verify your identity within 24 hours or your mailbox will be temporarily suspended.
[ Verify My Account ]
Thank you,
Account Security Team
The sender address isn't ours. It doesn't come from a savemyservice.com address, even though it claims to be about your account.
A tight, invented deadline. “Within 24 hours” is designed to make you act before you think it through.
A generic greeting. “Dear Customer” instead of your actual name — we always address you by name.
A button instead of a visible link. Hovering over it (without clicking) usually reveals a completely unrelated or misspelled domain.
It asks you to log in through the email rather than telling you to go to the website yourself.
Don't click the button or any link in the message.
Check the real destination by hovering over the link (or pressing and holding on a phone) before you would otherwise tap it.
Go directly to Webmail yourself at https://webmail.usgo.net instead of using the link, and check your account there.
Forward the message to abuse@usfamily.net so we can help block the sender.
If you're not sure, forward it to our support team and ask — we're happy to check.
If you clicked the link and entered your email address and password on that page, act quickly — this is usually easy to fix if you move fast:
Change your password immediately. See How Do I Change My Email Password?
If you can't sign in to change it yourself, contact our support team right away and we'll help secure your account.
See My Mailbox Was Hacked — What Happens Next? for the full recovery steps, including resetting your secret questions.
Understanding Spam and Phishing Emails (Basics)
How Do I Change My Email Password?
My Mailbox Was Hacked — What Happens Next?