Phishing is a type of online scam in which criminals act as legal entities through email, text messages, advertisements, or other means to steal sensitive information. This is usually done by adding a link that takes you to the company’s website to fill in your information - but the website is a clever fake and the information you provide goes directly to the fraudsters behind the scam.
The word “phishing” is a spin on the word because criminals are hanging on to a fake “bait” (legally appearing email, website, or advertisement) in the hope that consumers will “bite” themselves by providing the information requested by spammers - such as credit cards. Number, account number, password, username, or other valuable information.
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What is Phishing?
Phishing is a method of trying to gather personal information using fraudulent e-mails and websites. Here’s what you need to know about this respectable, but an increasingly sophisticated, version of CyberTalk.
Phishing Example: Can you spot a scam?
Make no mistake, these attacks are very clever. After all, this type of phishing exists because they work. Let’s take an in-depth look at two common attacks.
Anatomy of Email Scam
Above is a fake notice claiming that the recipient has been locked out of his or her account and needs to be updated to retrieve it. Here is some evidence to show that this email is actually a scam:
Email is not an address to the recipient. If the recipient is informed by Charles Schwab that there is a problem with his account, he will know the recipient’s name.
Again, they do not know the name of the recipient; “Dear customer” is not an identifier.
The recipient did not attempt to sign in to the Schwab account, so the number of attempts allowed should not be exceeded.
Grammatical errors: Online banking words are capitalized throughout the text. And, if you read carefully, the text says “Please reset your account at www.schwab.com/active”, which is not obvious, but since most people scan emails quickly, usually minor grammatical errors go unnoticed.
They try to reassure recipients by encouraging them to confirm that the email came from Schwab using the link provided.
See the flag; When you hover your mouse over any link on this page, it will show the correct email address to display (this is the red flag, which company will show all these functions to a single link?). Is the website actually http://almall.us my? Scammers have tried to make the words /schwab.com/ appear after the original name of their website, but this site is not valid.
Suffice it to look at one of these errors to say that email is a phishing attempt - but what if these errors do not exist?
Clever scammers can correct mistakes such as knowing the recipient’s name and email address and hiding their URL in a more reliable way. If they had done better, there would have been nothing dangerous in the message. But it still gets fake.
Preventing phone scams
Have you recently received a call from Windows Tech Support? Phone scams that makeup almost 30% of all mobile calls in 2018 - this is one of the most common Vishing attacks so chances are high. Learn ways to protect your website.
As discussed above, Wishing is an attempt to gather sensitive information over the phone. Attackers often pretend to have technical support, stealing your bank or government agency account information or even gaining remote access to your computer.
Follow these five best practices to avoid Phishing:
1. When answering calls from unknown numbers, be skeptical even if the number appears local.
2. Do not give over the phone if they ask for personal information.
3. Use the Caller ID app, but do not rely solely on it.
4. To find out if this is a known scam, search for the caller’s phone number online even during the call.
5. If the call is related to a product or service you are using, visit the seller’s website or call the seller directly to confirm the claim.
Two ways for everyone but no guarantee that you will not fall into any fishing scam
Constantly enforcing these two steps will help protect you from online scams:
Do not click: Use your own link. If you are using a product or service from the company that sent you the clear message. Instead, navigate to the website through browser bookmarks or a search engine. If the email is valid, you will see the same information when you log in to your account on a legitimate site. This is the only way to guarantee that you will land on a legal site.
If you use a link or phone number in an email, IM, blog, forum, voicemail, etc. Where you land (or who you talk to) is their choice, not yours. The “bank manager” on the website or phone takes you to maybe a solid copy, but if you share your information it will be stolen and misused.
Use the browser filtering extension: There are browser extensions that grade search engine results based on known features or behaviors and may prevent you from navigating to malicious sites. In general, sites are classified from safe to suspicious to high-risk.
What to do if you are Phished?
If you find you have been the victim of a phishing scam, change all your passwords immediately. Many people use the same password for more than one site (which we hope you do not), and cybercriminals may be in the process of gaining access to your other accounts on commonly used sites. Learn about web design and development
According to Dashlane, Americans have an average of 130 online accounts. It makes it possible to remember strong, unique passwords without having to remember or use a simple formula - both of which are dangerous.
Instead of rolling the dice on your password security, consider using a password manager. They make it easy to store all your passwords and allow encrypted auto-filling of login forms.
In fact, Top Antivirus Solutions also includes integrated password management so you can protect your passwords and devices in one place.
How to Protect Yourself from Phishing?
Both consumers and organizations need to take action to protect themselves from phishing attacks.
For consumers, vigilance is important. A fake message often contains subtle errors that reveal its true identity. As seen in the first URL example, it may contain spelling errors or changes to domain names. Users should also stop and think about why they are receiving such emails.
For enterprises, several steps can be taken to reduce both phishing and spear-phishing attacks:
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the most effective way to combat phishing attacks, as it adds an extra layer of authentication when logging into sensitive applications. 2FA relies on users who have two things: what they know, such as passwords and usernames, and what they have on their smartphone. Even if employees compromise, 2FA will prevent them from using their compromised credentials because these alone are not enough to gain access.
In addition to using 2FA, organizations must implement strict password management procedures. For example, employees may need to change their passwords frequently and should not be allowed to reuse passwords for multiple applications.
Educational campaigns can also help reduce the risk of phishing attacks by implementing safer methods, such as not clicking on external email links. Learn about digital marketing.
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