Could this be a scam or spam?

[Deleted User]

Although I posted in the wrong place (not meant to be 'Energy') the replies are appreciated. 

Re "M25"  *"As you opened the email they'll probably now know you opened it so they'll be back for more."  I have not experienced this before but today another strange email arrived from a name I do not know and who is not in my address book.  It said the person had a new email address and asked me to click on it to let 'her' know I had received the new email address.

Following information here I deleted it after marking it as Spam.  You are right *M25 and thank you for the heads up.

prowla

Never click on a link or open a document in an email.

EssexHebridean

I routinely block and/or report spam emails - it definitely reduces the quantity over time. 

FreeBear

prowla said:

Never click on a link or open a document in an email.

Don't use Microsoft Outlook, and turn off HTML.

Better still, install something like Claws and wean yourself off Microsoft products.

BobT36

lol have you EVER seen any legitimate company say "thanks for the recent thing you bought" ?

M25

Contacts only in Outlook: Open your Outlook Inbox. Select Actions > Junk E-mail > Junk E-mail Options. In the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, select the Options tab. Select Safe Lists Only: Only mail from people or domains on your Safe Senders List or Safe Recipients List will be delivered to your Inbox.

Another good tip is many email companies allow you to set incoming email to contacts only. Yes, it can be a sledgehammer to break a nut but you can add people/businesses as you go.

I changed my mobile to contacts only calls about a year ago it's a wonderful feeling. I don't do SMS but I can and it's easy to stop blocking if you're expecting a call.

I've never had a spam/scam email that's entirely fooled me but very very close. I had a 'Screwfix competition' one the other day and of course like 10,000s of other people I was in Screwfix last week. It was a lazy attempt but still people will click on the link. The email actually came from a hacked Swedish professor (they used his college's email server and email address).

Block everything you can and ignore and report the rest.

Most email also allows you to look at the message (email) body without opening the actually email. You will see a plain text of the body. When you open an email (not just scammers/spam) many companies use a tiny 1x1 pixel GIF image that draws a response from a server and a box is ticked that you've opened the email. Simple really and very effective.

[Deleted User]

Thanks very much for all these good replies.

MotoRacer

Do you think this is real email

Desmond_Hume

“…and it appears that you have not yet complied with your obligation…” 

Based on that sentence, no, not real. 

What’s the senders address?

elsien

1. What is the email address it came from?
2. Do you have an online trading account and have you declared it?

You can check what has been sent out recently on here.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-an-email-youve-received-from-hmrc-is-genuine