Phishing Red Flags
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to Fraud Fridays! On the docket today: Phishing
Phishing is when a scammer tries to trick you into giving information to them, such as your password or private financial information.
Common Features of Phishing Emails
1. Too Good to Be True - Lucrative offers and eye-catching or attention-grabbing statements are designed to attract people’s attention immediately. For instance, many claim that you have won an iPhone, a lottery, or some other lavish prize. Just don't click on any suspicious emails. Remember that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!
2. Sense of Urgency - A favorite tactic amongst cybercriminals is to ask you to act fast because the super deals are only for a limited time. Some of them will even tell you that you have only a few minutes to respond. When you come across these kinds of emails, it's best to just ignore them. Sometimes, they will tell you that your account will be suspended unless you update your personal details immediately. Most reliable organizations give ample time before they terminate an account, and they never ask patrons to update personal details over the Internet. When in doubt, visit the source directly rather than clicking a link in an email.
3. Hyperlinks - A link may not be all it appears to be. Hovering over a link shows you the actual URL where you will be directed upon clicking on it. It could be completely different, or it could be a popular website with a misspelling, for instance bank of arnerica - the 'm' is an 'r' and an 'n', so look carefully.
4. Attachments - If you see an attachment in an email, you weren't expecting or that doesn't make sense, don't open it! They often contain payloads like ransomware or other viruses. The only file type that is always safe to click on is a .txt file.
5. Unusual Sender - Whether it looks like it's from someone you don't know or someone you do know, if anything seems out of the ordinary, unexpected, out of character or just suspicious in general don't click on it.
To be honest, Phishing is a much larger fish than can be thoroughly explained in a Facebook post. I will create further posts regarding different types of phishing!
Come back next week for another dose of security!