No, someone really didn’t say that about you on Facebook

Look what showed up in my email inbox:

If this was in your email inbox, what would you do? Give yourself 10 points if you answered delete it or report it as spam. Deduct 10 points if you answered click on the link to find out who would say such a thing about you on Facebook.

By the way, I apologize if I offend anyone because I did not blur out the four-letter word in the email image above but I think it's important to see the original email as it was received so we can all learn to identify malicious attempts such as these.

Why should you suspect this email isn't genuine? For starters, the email came from , not . Next, it was sent to "undisclosed recipients", not me personally. Third, if you have never heard of "Helen Stevens", she (even if she was real which she isn't) most likely didn't figure out a way to secretly friend you on Facebook and comment on one of your posts.

If you must...

If it absolutely kills you to delete this type of email without "just checking" to see if it is real, try this. Float your mouse over the "See the comment thread" link and then look at the bottom of your browser to see where the link will take you.

If it says anything other than facebook.com it's a fake. Or worse, it's a website that will attempt to give you a virus or trick you into install or buying something.

Incidentally, this email definitely does not link to facebook.com but I don't want to share the actual link with anyone for fear you might accidentally click it!

If curiosity is still getting the best of you, just open your browser and go to www.facebook.com. If this comment is legitimate you should have an alert waiting for you in Facebook and you can click on it and address it there.