- What does Safeonweb do with all those messages we send to suspicious@safeonweb.be?
The purpose of suspicious@safeonweb.be is simple: we call on Internet users to alert us when they receive a suspicious message (also termed a phishing message), by forwarding it to suspicious@safeonweb.be. We will then check the links and attachments of these forwarded messages.
Every day we receive thousands of suspicious emails. In 2023, 10 million messages were forwarded to suspicious@safeonweb.be. The suspicious URLs from these emails are redirected to Google SafeBrowsing and Microsoft SmartScreen. Browsers use this information to alert visitors about malicious websites.
- I did not get a personal response when I forwarded a message. That's a pity!
It's true – you won't get a personal response. We do not reply to tell you whether the message you forwarded was a phishing message. When you forward a suspicious message to suspicious@safeonweb.be, we do send you a confirmation of receipt. That is an automatic reply to confirm that we have received your message properly and explaining what we will do with it. Thanks to the messages that are forwarded to suspicious@safeonweb.be, we can have fake URLs contained in the message blocked so that less attentive Internet users do not fall into the trap. If you have doubts about the authenticity of a message, the chances are that this is indeed phishing. If you think the message might be genuine, contact the sender by telephone to get more information. Do not call the phone numbers mentioned in the message you are unsure about, but look up the correct number yourself.
- I have forwarded a lot of messages to suspicious@safeonweb.be, but I keep getting phishing messages. Why is that?
If you forward a suspicious message, you are mostly helping less attentive Internet users. If that person did not notice that a message was suspicious and they still click on the link, they will not be redirected to the suspicious website.
To receive fewer of those annoying phishing messages yourself, check out our tips at: https://safeonweb.be/en/i-am-getting-lot-spam-and-phishing-e-mails-my-inbox
- I sometimes get a reply stating that my message cannot be sent to suspicious@safeonweb.be. What is happening?
Sometimes, problems occur when forwarding messages. Your mailbox may think you yourself are sending spam or phishing messages. This happens when the message you want to forward is already known to be a phishing message.
- Can I also forward suspicious text messages? And how do I do that?
Suspicious text messages can also be forwarded to suspicious@safeonweb.be. Just take a screenshot of the message and forward it. Our technology can detect the links in those images. If the links point to fake webpages, we can have those pages blocked.
