In the years that I have been writing Scamicide, I have written many times about the extreme danger presented by phishing emails.  These are emails that attempt to lure you into  either clicking on links in the email that download harmful malware such as ransomware or providing personal information used to make you a victim of identity theft.  All phishing emails have in common that they appear to alert you to some type of emergency to which you must quickly respond.  Below is a copy of a phishing email that was sent to a business owner who is a Scamicide reader who unfortunately became a victim of the scam as did many other people.  As a result of clicking on a link in the email, malware was downloaded that enabled the scammer to gain access to the victim’s customer emails.  It can be expected that the scammers will use those emails and the knowledge of their relationship with the Scamicide reader’s business to craft more personally targeted phishing emails called spear phishing emails.  These spear phishing emails are even more likely to convince the targeted victims to click on links or provide information to their detriment.  This tactic was used against JP Morgan Chase a few years ago when they suffered a data breach after an employee clicked on a link in a phishing email and the scammers gained access to the names and email addresses of JP Morgan Chase’s customers to whom the criminals later sent spear phishing emails that lured their victims into an investment scam.  Here is a copy of the email sent to the Scamicide reader.