Phishing

PHISHING

Hopefully, you have heard of the term “phishing” before. On a general level, phishing is a form of fraud or a cyberattack, that can be in the form of an email, voice call, text message, or anything of the sort, that will try to get you to provide sensitive and personal information.

Something else to be aware of is “spoofing”. Hackers and attackers of all types will imitate people, companies, and even computers with the intent to trick people into giving up personal information. Spoofing can apply to emails, phone calls, and websites, or even IP spoofing, and is oftentimes used during a cyberattack to disguise the source of attack traffic.

Fraudsters will send messages posing as a person or company you know or trust. Be aware of emails that ask you to click a suspicious link or provide personal information. Always think twice before clicking on links in emails.

Keeping yourself safe from phishing emails:

• Sender: Make sure you know who the sender is. Verify that it is the person or company you know and that the email is in fact relevant to you.
• Verbiage: Look for unusual language patterns, poor grammar, and misspellings. This might be an indication of a fraudulent message.
• Attachments: Were you expecting an attached file? Look at the file preview and make sure it’s relevant to you.
• Actions: Beware of urgent or threatening language. If you receive an email or text about personal information or finances, ask “Am I expecting this? Does it make sense?” If you are weary, call the person that the email came from to ensure that they really sent you the document. Be sure to be specific on what the email/document entails.
• Links: Look but don’t click. Hover your mouse over hyperlinks in the email, or even right-click to copy and paste it somewhere you can read the full URL. If the link address looks suspicious, do not click on it.

Trust your gut - if something seems off, it probably is!