Hooked and Hacked: How Phishing Emails Reel You In
Phishing emails don’t look suspicious anymore – they look professional. This is the reality. Phishing scams have gotten smarter and harder to spot. They have evolved and are no longer scams filled with spelling errors, suspicious links, and chaotic imaging. They have become more concise, clear and direct. They look like an email from your boss, and colleagues. Even your bank! With just one click, scammers will have access to classified documents, important clientele information, and your personal banking details. It is easy for people to fall for the scams as they are personal and have a sense of urgency and fear. Therefore, it is important that people understand how to spot phishing emails to save your organization and yourself!
Tips to identify phishing emails:
1: Urgency and Pressure:
Cybercriminals will create a false sense of urgency, as people commonly make mistakes when under pressure. The language used will prompt immediate action and consequences for delay. Key words such as: immediately, time-sensitive, be done/ completed before the end of day.
2: Unusual Communication Methods:
It is important to be suspicious when a message or email comes through a communication channel than what is normally used with said person. For example, if your organization uses Microsoft Teams or Outlook to communicate, but a request from a colleague comes through on Gmail or as an SMS.
3: Requests For Secrecy
Real processes usually do not require secrecy. When someone asks you to keep a something a secret, they’re trying to prevent you from verifying with other people.
4: Prevention of Verification
Cybercriminals will make up excuses as to why you can’t verify the request such as “being unavailable” or “they won’t be able to respond to any phone calls.”
5: Suspicious Email Address:
An email address that has got extra symbols and letters than the usual address is something to look out for. Example: the usual email address will look like janedoe@outlook.com. The phishing email would look like: jane-doe876@outlook9.com.
