[MD-Sligo] FW: [tech-vi Announce List] The Top 7 Signs of a Phishing Scam

Thu Jul 21 18:13:00 UTC 2022

From: tech-vi at groups.io <tech-vi at groups.io> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2022 8:18 AM
To: Tech-VI Announcement List <tech-vi at groups.io>
Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] The Top 7 Signs of a Phishing Scam

MUO - Feed - Thursday, July 14, 2022 at 2:04 PM

The Top 7 Signs of a Phishing Scam

How do you spot a phishing email? What if a scam message comes through via
social media? Here are some tell-tale red flags.

Everyone knows that phishing scams are a huge concern, but what do they
actually look like?

While many fraudulent messages are easy to spot, some take a lot more
inspection to work out whether they're real or not. So what can you do?
Here's a checklist of things to look out for, to protect yourself from
phishing.

1. An Unusual Sender Address

Phishing scams often take place via email, so it's crucial that you're
vigilant about who you're communicating with. It's likely that, when you
receive an email, you don't check the address of the sender. But this can be
a key indicator of a phishing scam. Let's consider an example to understand
why this is.

Say you've received an email from Postmates claiming that your payment
details have expired and you need to update them. While this may seem like a
fairly harmless communication, it's always crucial that you run a quick scan
whenever information is being requested from you, especially if that
information is private.

Let's say in this scenario that the email address of the sender reads
"p0stmates", or maybe "post-mates". These slight alterations to the official
company name can be indicative of a phishing scam. Check the official email
addresses used by Postmates or any alleged trusted party that states your
information is required.

On the other hand, if you've received a social media message from an
allegedly official account, check the account itself to see if this is the
case. If the account is new, the follower number is low, or it's missing a
verification tick, consider this a possible red flag.

2. Multiple In-Text Errors

If you receive an email from what claims to be an official body, such as a
big retailer or government branch, you'd expect the spelling and grammar of
the email to be nothing short of immaculate. While errors can sometimes slip
through the cracks even when the sender is legitimate, it's rare that you'll
receive an email from a trusted party that's littered with mistakes.

Spelling and grammatical errors can provide very clear signs of a phishing
scam. Look out for such inconsistencies in any email, text, or social media
message you receive. You can even use a typing assistant or spell-checking
tool
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeu
seof.com%2Fbest-download-free-spelling-checkers%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C9678b8d
255b541296eb508da6b005578%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C63793
9946420897315%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLC
JBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ESNNx1iQ56a2t5eYIPS3XmfWI
inlyp2SIYppDST%2FRpE%3D&reserved=0>  like Grammarly to quickly scan an email
for errors.

3. "Urgent" Messages

If there's one thing that gets people nervous, it's urgent matters.

If an email states you've got a few months to perform an action, you may put
it off for some time and not worry about it too much. However, if you
receive an email stating that you must take immediate action to avoid
consequences, you're far more likely to comply without question.
Cybercriminals know this, and will therefore inject a sense of urgency into
their phishing emails to put you under pressure.

So, if you ever receive an email that stresses high urgency, don't panic.
It's much safer to check the email for suspicious signs first and then act
if you feel the sender is to be trusted.

4. Unusual Attachments

Attachments are pretty commonplace in emails. Whether it's an image, a
document, or similar, attachments themselves are by no means cause for
concern much of the time. However, malicious attachments are often used by
cybercriminals to install malware onto your device without your knowledge.
I's always best to vet any attachments you receive to ensure they're safe to
open.

The first step here would be to use your antivirus software. Today, many
antivirus providers offer email or attachment scanners, which allow you to
determine whether a file you've been sent is malicious. This can be done in
a matter of minutes and is absolutely worth the extra steps.

Additionally, you should check to see if any given attachment looks
suspicious at face value. The file type of an attachment can be especially
telling. Typically, attachments will come in the form of .pdf, .jpg, .csv,
.bmp, .doc, and .docx. If you ever receive an attachment that falls under
the file types .exe, .vbs, .wsf, .cpl, or .cmd, proceed with caution. Such
file types are often used by attackers to infiltrate your device.

However, these file types can sometimes be entirely benign, and even
seemingly common file types can be malicious, so it's key to scan
attachments using your antivirus software before clicking.

5. Provided Links

Malicious links often form the basis of phishing scams. In a typical
phishing swindle, an attacker will send their target an email with a link
that they're advised to click on. The attacker may claim this is a login
page, verification page, or similar. Such pages will often require the entry
of information, which is where the scam comes in. Phishing websites track
the information you enter, allowing the attacker to use this data to their
advantage.

To avoid clicking on malicious links, run any given link through a
link-checking website
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeu
seof.com%2Ftag%2F4-quick-sites-that-let-you-check-if-links-are-safe%2F&data=
05%7C01%7C%7C9678b8d255b541296eb508da6b005578%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaa
aaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637939946420897315%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMD
AiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=V3hG7
GSKTjZss3ph8nfUaR2iWLnfAtoh%2BnNUsDGY2Hs%3D&reserved=0> . These sites will
scan the link you provide to determine whether it's safe or not to access.
If the website deems the link malicious, steer clear, and block the sender
who provided you with it.

6. Sensitive Information Is Requested

On the dark web, your private information can be valuable. Login
information, payment details, social security numbers, and home addresses
are all sought-after kinds of data that attackers can either sell to other
malicious parties or exploit for their own benefit. Even your passport or
driving license can be worth a lot on the dark web's illicit marketplaces
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeu
seof.com%2Fhow-can-data-be-sold-dark-web%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C9678b8d255b541
296eb508da6b005578%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637939946420
897315%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6I
k1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DpzcW1lXbhrlZLScfpbjJB0pi9THGGEx
vz4iCQ6QHtU%3D&reserved=0> .

So, if you ever receive an email requesting any kind of sensitive
information, take a pause to run some checks. Check the provided links, the
attachments, the sender address, and other factors before even considering
providing your sensitive information, as once the attacker has this, they
can potentially cause a lot of damage.

7. Your Email Provider Flags an Email

Many email providers are equipped with an anti-spam feature
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeu
seof.com%2Fhow-do-email-spam-filters-work%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C9678b8d255b54
1296eb508da6b005578%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C63793994642
0897315%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6
Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FqJSg1ryF6B1nQhlARCWJNSg8ZUrd
fBQTSNt%2B1nQWYw%3D&reserved=0>  that picks up on emails that are likely
spam. Your email provider will notify you if this is the case, often with a
warning bar at the top of the message. If you receive this kind of warning
on any given email, you might be dealing with a phishing scam, as there's a
good chance the email you've been sent has also been sent to hundreds or
thousands of other recipients.

While your email provider's spam detector may not be accurate 100 percent of
the time, it's worth taking note of any warning you do get and then running
other checks to see if the email in question is truly malicious.

Phishing Is Commonplace: Stay Vigilant

It's easy to assume that you'll never be the victim of any kind of online
scam, but cybercrime is so prevalent that there's nothing stopping any given
attacker from targeting you next. You're always better off vetting your
communications to ensure they're entirely benign. Phishing emails can be
surprisingly convincing nowadays, so taking the steps listed above can help
you weed out any potential scams.

https://www.makeuseof.com/top-signs-phishing-scams/
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeu
seof.com%2Ftop-signs-phishing-scams%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C9678b8d255b541296eb
508da6b005578%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C63793994642089731
5%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haW
wiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=XqtnVNJQtN4Xc1jAqP2%2B4%2Fsp7O18IKn9l
9iS43U4Z7U%3D&reserved=0> 

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

 <https://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/Certification> 

 <https://certification.nvaccess.org/> NVDA Certified Expert

Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive news, events and
information regarding the blindness assistive technology field.

Email:  <mailto:tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io> tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io

 <http://www.DavidGoldfield.org> www.DavidGoldfield.org

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