Look-Alike Domains

The part of an email address after @ is called the domain. An email can use a familiar name even when it comes from someone else. One trick is to use a look-alike domain: an address that looks almost like the real one. Compare these examples with Lumen's address, lumen.test:

payroll@lumen.test         Lumen's domain
payroll@lurnen.test        rn replaces m
payroll@lumen.payroll.test Lumen's name is added to payroll.test

In the second address, the letters r and n are placed together to look like an m. It is easy to miss if you only glance at the sender.

The third address uses another trick. It includes the word lumen, but lumen.payroll.test is part of payroll.test. It is not Lumen's lumen.test. Check the complete address after @, rather than trusting the name at the beginning.