7 Ways to Recognize Phishing Email

Perhaps you’ve received an email from someone in Nigeria who really needs your help. He’s inherited $435 million and needs you to help him transfer the money out of the country. If you provide your bank account credentials to get the money out of Africa, then you can have either a large reward or a cut of the money.

An email like that one should automatically register as fake. Unfortunately, some spoofed email messages look more genuine. For example, you could receive an email from your bankregarding unusual charges to your credit card account. The message may ask you to click a link to immediately update your username and password. It could contain authentic touches, like a genuine-looking logo or a toll-free contact number.

The scams described above are two common types of “phishing” emails. Phishing emails are designed to trick you into either giving away sensitive information or downloading malware. The best antivirus software often picks up on phishing emails, or it scans links and attachments to let you know that they’re dangerous. To protect yourself, you need to recognize the most common characteristics of phishing emails.

1. Requests for Personal Information

A legitimate emailwill never ask you for personal information, particularly if it addresses you in an impersonal way (e.g., “Dear valued member”).In fact, if you receive an email asking for the following information, then you should delete the message immediately:

• Address or telephone number
• Username, password or PIN
• Credit/debit card number or bank account number
• Social Security or driver’s license number
• Credit card CVV (the three-digit code above your signature on the back of the card)

Thieves can use this information to apply for credit cards or loans in your name. They can empty the money out of your bank account, or they can sell your investments, transfer the money to your bank and withdraw the cash with a fake debit card. In general, never click a link or call a phone number that you see in an email. Instead, go directly to the financial institution’s website and call the customer service number to confirm the validity of the message.

2. Sounds Urgent

You may receive an email from your company’s CEO asking you to immediately upgrade your company network password. Alternatively, you may receive an email from your “bank” claiming that your account will be locked until you update your PIN. In general, an email that sounds incredibly urgent is an email that you should investigate.

3. Contains Fake Links

Look carefully at the links that you see in anyemail message. Fake links often have one or more of these characteristics:

• Misspelled words. The link may be for “faecbook” or for “bankomerica” instead of utilizing the proper domain name.
• The @ symbol. A browser ignores any part of a URL that comes before an @ symbol. When you see a link such as “https://[email protected]_verification.aspx,” that link will take you to 425.secure_verification.aspx and not to BankofAmerica.com.
• Different URL from the one that appears when you hover your cursor.If you place your cursor over an email link and a different URL appears in the highlighted box, then do not click the link. It’s probably fake.

4. Uses an Image Instead of Text for the Message Body

Phishing emails often contain a pasted image instead of typed text. The telltale sign is that when you hover your cursor over the words, the cursor will turn into a hand indicating that the email body is actually an image.

5. Asks You to Open Attachments

Good antivirus software and top email clients scan email attachments for malicious characteristics. Still, you should never open an attachment from someone that you don’t know. If you do, then you may download malware onto your computer.

6. Poor Grammar or Spelling

If the sender of the phishing email isn’t a native English speaker, then you may notice grammatical errors or spelling errors throughout the message. Be aware that most reliable sources will not have egregious grammar and spelling mistakes in their content.

7. Sounds Too Good to Be True

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that nice-sounding Nigerian person really wanted to offer you free money? Unfortunately, many phishing emails contain offers that are too good to be true. Never allow wishful thinking to trick you into giving away personal information or downloading a computer virus.