How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams.
What are the 3 ways to avoid phishing?
What is phishing and how it can be prevented?
What are examples of phishing attacks?
What is the best protection against phishing? What are anti-phishing tools? All these questions will be answered in this video, stay tuned!
🎣 What is a phishing scam?
To give you a textbook definition, phishing is a social engineering attack, used to steal user data. And what I just described above is known as an Email phishing attack. What is a phishing email then? What are its usual characteristics?
First of all, things – impersonation of an authoritative figure. A phishing email would capitalize on the authority of the organization or person asking you to do something. It is often paired with a sense of urgency, forcing its victim to act immediately, often without thinking first.
This case with the court is a striking example of that. By trying to access the link in a phishing email, you will get to a different website, that will look the same, work the same and even might have legitimate security measures and protocols in place.
Only minor things, like a difference in the web address can lead you to recognizing a fake. But if you don’t succeed at phishing attack prevention and try to login to the fake website, this website will forward your details to the cybercriminals, who are now in control of your personal info.
💬 Which brand is impersonated the most?
Facebook, alongside other social media, is this year’s most impersonated brand. By itself, Facebook phishing contributes 14% of the fake websites used by cybercriminals, which rises to 24% once other platforms join in.
With 2.8 billion users, Facebook is a goldmine for cybercriminals. Fake emails, asking users to change their password, are usually the most popular example of Facebook scams, employed to steal user data.
However, criminals can also entice users with messages containing keywords and images associated with major contemporary events. Last year, Coronavirus was one of the most used topics, and right now it is the war in Ukraine.
💥 What is the worst outcome of a phishing scam?
The first thing a criminal would do is request new account PINs and remake your bank cards remotely, using banking details and your Social Security number. They will extract or use all available resources you keep in banks, and that would be just the beginning.
Identity fraud is highly possible, as the information you forfeited can be used to request a new passport, driver license and more.
With those, nothing stops criminals from taking credits from microfinance organizations, racking hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit debt. In a single moment, you can lose all your funds and rack up an insurmountable debt. That’s how phishing works. But that’s the worst-case scenario.
💼 Spear phishing – what does it entail?
Target for the spear phishing is researched beforehand, so that the scam message will be specifically crafted for them, impersonating closest friends, family or business clients and partners. Sometimes, the victim would be a part of an organization, and the attack would include an immense amount of background research to identify the power structure and hierarchy within that company.
Then, out of nowhere a low-ranked clerk gets an email from one of the executives, asking to sign a document and send back a signed copy. With research done right, an employee won’t even notice that this email is sent from a slightly different address and will personally hand the corporate stamp and signature to the cybercriminals.