How To Spot A Phish Behind A Phishing Scam

By now you have probably heard of phishing attacks, but in case you haven’t, a phishing attack occurs when a crook tries to get you to give him or her your sensitive information such as passwords, user names, bank account information, credit card details, etc. One of the best ways to prevent yourself from falling victim is to learn how to identify the phish behind the scam. This Tuesday Tip will teach you how to do just that.

3 Ways To Spot A Phish

Sign #1: Appeal To Emotion
Phish will elicit specific emotions such as:

1. Greed: Crooks will tempt you with some kind of monetary reward for entering your information or clicking on a link. If the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Curiosity: Crooks behind phishing scams will take advantage of your natural curiosity by promising to show you something exciting in exchange for entering your personal information or for clicking a link.
3. Urgency: Phishing attacks will provide you with a sense of urgency to carry out some type of action, which is done in an attempt to fluster you.
4. Fear: Phish will often times threaten you in some way to try and put fear in you, and motivate you to perform some type of action. Don’t fall for this.

Sign #2: Strange Elements

1. Email Signatures: If an email signature block appears to be generic, or doesn’t follow a company’s protocol, be highly suspicious.
2. Sender Address: If the email address does not match the sender’s name, approach with extreme caution.
3. Strange Tone: If email content sounds out of the ordinary for someone you know, do not click on any links, provide any personal information, or open any attachments.

Sign #3: Unexpected Attachments & Requests For Action

1. Attachments: Be highly skeptical of any attachment you receive from someone you don’t know, or someone you weren’t expecting an attachment from. Make sure it is legit before you open it.
2. Login Pages: Be highly skeptical of any email that asks you to login to an account for any reason. Do not click any link within this email. It is always better to navigate directly to the site yourself via your web browser.
3. Links: Approach links from unknown parties with extreme caution.