Even though phishing is a widespread form of cybercrime, many people are still duped by scam emails, despite our best efforts. As a result, people continue to send large sums of money or sensitive information over the Internet or email, only to be conned.
An attempt to deceive you into thinking that you are communicating or sharing information with a real and legitimate organization is the ultimate goal of phishing. These demands for personal information may appear safe or legitimate at the first glance. In order to fall victim to these scams, one may be required to respond to an email, call, or visit a phishing website. Watch out!
You may improve your phishing awareness by learning how to recognize phishing emails and how to avoid them:
1. Domain Name: Cybercriminals use domain names different from legitimate sources when sending phishing emails. To tell a domain apart from its original, you only have to glance at its ending. For example, the real URL would be www.asmediaworks.in, whereas the phoney URL would be www.asmediaworks-indi.in.
2. Poor Language: A message containing silly grammatical or spelling errors is most likely a phishing email message. Grammatical errors are more prevalent, considering the use of spell checkers by scammers. It is rare to find language errors in well-reviewed official communications.
3. Suspicious Links and Attachments: All or most phishing emails will invariably have a payload. Either an infected attachment or a harmful link leading to a spurious website will be added to the phishing email. These payloads are intended to collect confidential data, such as passwords, credit card details, and account numbers.
4. Sense of Urgency: A fabricated sense of urgency is very effective in workplace scams. And
so, phishing emails create time-bound situations and require immediate action without much deliberation.
5. Faulty Signature: Lack of information about the sender or signer is a red flag. Legitimate businesses always provide complete contact information.
Fraudsters are the masters of their craft. In many cases, malicious emails use compelling logos, names, and even an email address that appears valid – exercise maximum caution. Check, re-check, repeat!