Phishing is a type of method used for stealing information through deception. Usually this information consists of personal account credentials like usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc. This guide will give you a few tips to avoid this online danger and explain a little about how phishing works.
Know your addresses – Knowing the email addresses your accounts would normally send their information from, can greatly reduce your chances of becoming a victim. In some cases your email may get a message containing a sub domain that adds an extra “.something.com”, creating a somewhat lookalike to the email it is trying to mimic. For example if you received an email address from [email protected], then you would be receiving a valid email from the company eBay, but If that same email address was changed to “[email protected]”, then you would be receiving a non-eBay company email. This is an easy way for phishers to trick you into giving them your information.
Valid and Invalid URL’s – Type in valid URL’s when possible to sites asking you to log in from your email. For example, if you are receiving an email from a website that asks you to log into your account, then type in the address of the website like you normally would instead of clicking on any links in the email. If you’re logging into a legitimate accounts website, then you have less to worry about. The trick that phishers use lures you into false links that mimic the look of your legitimate website accounts. This is how they steal information from you. Sometimes the sites the links go to can look practically identical to the sites they are trying to mimic.
Sketchy writing – Typos and grammatical errors are a clear sign of something shady happening in your email messages. If you suspect that the email you are viewing is not what it appears to be, then try contacting the website or organization to verify the authenticity of the email being sent. This can be as simple as writing an email to the company or people it appears to come from.
Being Cautious – Avoid giving your email address to websites and people whom you do not trust very well. Making sure your email does not fall into the wrong hands will help reduce chances of security threats to your valuable information. If you feel like your email might possibly be abused in some way, then it is always good to go with your instinct and just say no.
It can be very easy to make mistakes, and this guide will hopefully help you avoid a fairly devastating situation, of stolen account information from email phishing thieves. Always use caution when looking through your email. Even if a message appears to be innocent it can turn out to be rather harmful.