There is unfortunately always a risk of being scammed in today’s online world, but the Christmas holiday season is renowned as a time when cyber criminals step up their game in an attempt to defraud people of their hard-earned cash. One of the easiest ways for these crooks to get to you is via your Gmail inbox.

It’s bad enough that Google has issued an official warning to all Gmail users worldwide highlighting the festive season’s digital risk, offering four “golden rules” to follow.

Despite claiming that Gmail blocks 99.9 percent of spam, phishing and malware, Google said that both Black Friday and then the end of year holidays serve up a two-stage attack by crooks when it comes to scams.

“Every year, scammers go into overdrive during the holiday season, using all kinds of tactics to get your attention,” Google said in a blog post. “Since mid-November, we’ve seen a massive surge in email traffic compared to previous months, making protecting inboxes an even greater challenge than normal.”

The firm added that artificial intelligence (AI) is “transforming how the Gmail team protects billions of inboxes”, with advanced tech now powering the cyber defenses around your free Gmail account.

But despite the alleged progress in protecting its users from malicious scams and spam, Google has decided to highlight three major scams to watch out for. The first is invoice scams, where you receive a fake invoice asking you to call a number to dispute the charges. People can be coerced into giving over their payment details.

Celebrity scams are also worryingly prevalent. This is when emails pretend to be from a famous person or using their name to promote a “random product”, the aim being to trick you into parting with funds.

You should also be on the lookout for extortion scams, Google says. These are emails containing details of your address or photos of a location, which worryingly include “threats of physical harm or threats of releasing damaging personal material they say they acquired through a hack.”

Despite the persistent efforts of hackers, Google recommends following four “golden rules” in order to stay safe from Gmail scams:

• Slow it down. Scams are often designed to create a sense of urgency, and often use terms like “urgent, immediate, deactivate, unauthorized, etc.” Take time to ask questions and think it through.
• Spot check. Do your research to double-check the details of an email. Does what it’s saying make sense? Can you validate the email address of the sender?
• Stop! Don’t send. No reputable person or agency will ever demand payment or your personal information on the spot.
• Report it. If you see something suspicious, mark it as spam. You’ll be making your Inbox cleaner and helping billions of others too.

Unfortunately, none of us is ever entirely safe from receiving scams in our Gmail inboxes, but with a little care and knowledge of the very real risks, you should be able to identify when you’ve received a dodgy message and avoid falling victim to cyber crime.