How to Protect Yourself from a Phishing Attack

A phishing attack is an attack where a cyber criminal attempts to trick victims into revealing potentially sensitive information such as their name, addresses or any bank account information.

You may have received phishing emails in the past, but they’re not always easy to spot. They usually come in the form of fraudulent emails posing as common companies such as your bank, prolific shipping companies or online retailers, asking you to enter your information to confirm your details or something that seems somewhat insignificant.

These emails are usually very well hidden, and will regularly contain matching graphics to that of your regular provider, including their logo, or a similar typeface. They are cleverly disguised as a legitimate message, making you more likely to give the cybercriminals the information they want.

It’s likely that the email may also include an urgent reason for you to click on the link or phone the number included in the email, taking you through a fake authentication process similar to that of the company they’re replicating in order to “unlock” your account.

How to Identify a Phishing e-mail.

Due to how readily available information has become, it has become harder and harder to spot phasing emails in recent times. They’ve become more and more convincing, but there are still a few tell-tale signs that will clue you in as to whether the email you’ve received is from a legitimate source or not.

Here are some clues that one of your emails is a phishing attack.

E-Mail Senders Address

If you have been sent a phishing email, it’s likely it will come from a name such as “Royal Mail”, but once you actually click to see what the email address is, it might look something like “royal.mail13572826@gmail.com”. This is a clear indicator that the email is not legitimate, and should be deleted immediately.

It is also possible to receive a phishing email from one of your e-mail contacts. They may have unknowingly been hacked, and a cybercriminal could use that person’s account to send phishing emails to everyone in their address book.

E-Mail Subject Line

Always examine the text in your e-subjects before opening them. Phishing e-mails usually want to alert you and cause anxiety, meaning they may contain some wording such as “WARNING” or “URGENT”, or something else in order to cause you anxiety so that you act without thinking. Usually, the subjects are informal, and may not make complete sense. If it seems suspicious, it’s always best to air on the side of caution and delete it.

E-mail Content

E-mail text within a phishing e-mail will usually be text that is designed to scare the reader, putting them in a vulnerable position in order to get them to hand over their information. It’s usually alarming news that requires you to take a certain action or you will suffer certain consequences, such as inputting your account information or you will face a fine.

Phishing emails are usually sent to a lot of contacts at once, and will therefore not usually contain any specifics such as your name or location, but will instead be addressed broadly, such as “Good Day” or “Dear Valued Customer”. This is a good indicator that this email is phishing, meaning it can be deleted immediately.

Different Types of Phishing Attacks

Phishing has now moved on from being an exclusively email-based scam to also taking over SMS, social media and phone calls. Below are some examples of how phishing has evolved, and how you can protect yourself against it.

Vishing

Vishing is a form of phishing that takes place as a phone call and is becoming more and more common. These kinds of cyber attacks are used to retrieve information for more organized groups.

Due to the more trusting nature of a phone call as compared to an email, scammers may try to deceive you into moving funds from a bank account, or claiming you’ve faulted on a payment and they need to verify your credit card information.

To prevent these kinds of attacks, only answer calls that you are expecting from recognized callers. Your bank would never call you and ask you to verify your information.

Smishing

Similarly to phishing, smishing is conducted through SMS messages and contains links or alarming messages to attempt to garner a certain response. Do not click the link or reply to the message, just delete it immediately.