Avoid Phishing Scams

Phishing is one of the most popular ways to steal your personal data through creating fake emails that looks legitimate. It usually disguises as an email coming from a well-known person or organization like shopping sites or your bank, even creating sense of urgency they can lure you on giving out your details like personal bank accounts and credit cards. If they target an organization, they can get very sensitive information that may result to a huge loss. Or it could also be an attack on your social media like facebook and Instagram for identity theft and violation of privacy.

How does it happen?

Normally, it comes with a link that takes you to a web page that hackers created solely for the purpose of stealing. If you’re not paying attention, the web page might look legitimate to you. If you fall on this trick, you will be surrendering your account details on the fake website, where it takes that information to their server instead of the bank or organization. One way also is when they send an email with an attachment for downloading while the hacker gets an access to your system through installing a malware on your device.

This cybercrime is sophisticated as it involves a lot of planning and set up before they attack or collect information. Once they gathered what they need, the last step is to use these confidential information for fraud or to make illegal purchase.

Tips to avoid phishing scams

1. Always check the spelling or grammatical errors on the website address and email addresses. They might seem the same with the well-known organizations or website, but they are created to mimic one. Check also for HTTPS on address bar instead of HTTP because HTTPS is more secured.
2. Don’t just click links on your email. Ensure that the URL is legitimate and matches the link provided. Be aware of pop ups as they may contain virus that can steal your data.
3. Call your bank or the organization to verify in case the email is asking for sensitive information, such as passwords or account details.
4. ALWAYS use two-step authentication for your social media accounts so that hackers may have difficulty accessing your facebook or Instagram.
5. Use a VPN to make browsing safer and protect you from hacking techniques including phishing, through blocking malware and encrypting data sent and received for all confidential information.