Ways To Easily Recognize Phishing Emails

by Mathdelane on December 16, 2009

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

As I have discussed on my previous post some of the useful ways on how to identify a phising site, this comes in as my second installment however this time is particularly focused on determining some of the most important components of phishing emails.

Phishing Emails

Phishing Emails

Looking back to the previous “Paypal phishing email” I have received, here are the essential indications that you can find (see email screen shot below).

“From” Address is Completely Fraudulent and Unofficial

Avoid these links from site’s and as much as possible check the companies’ official URL.

Don’t fall for Call-to-Action statements

We all know that it’s pretty to fall into a trap with warning such as “Alert Account blocked” so never ever believe this trick.

Look for Generic Greetings

Okay, the bad guys doesn’t really know who you really are so basically they would do just about any trick to get you following they’re suggestions.

Watch out those links before clicking on them, like I said before Interclue add-on for Firefox or hover on the link and watch what you see on your taskbar.

And finally, don’t forget to report those phishing emails to the proper authorities so can they track them down in their system and inform others of this undesirable modus operandi.

Suggested for further reading:

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  2. Phishing Scam Links from Twitter Direct Messages Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes This post may...
  3. HOW TO: Identify a Phising Site Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes Based on my...
  4. HOW TO: Protect Your Password from Theft Using Yahoo Sign-In Seal Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes I’ve been using...
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Charles December 16, 2009 at 1:55 pm

So many of them want you to go to an “official” website and sign in, giving them some kind of personal information. They never cloak the url of the actual site you end up on. I got from the “IRS” that took me to some site hosted in Denmark.
Charles´s last blog ..First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended

2 John Samuel December 16, 2009 at 11:11 pm

One more thing I have noticed is that such mails will have some or the other spelling mistakes. It can be easily figured out. Since a mail sent from a PR of a company won’t have any spelling mistakes.
John Samuel´s last blog ..Blog Or Browse: Daily Dose of Blogging and Browsing Tips

3 Mathdelane December 17, 2009 at 1:50 am

That’s not always the case, I once received an awfully written email from my previous host Byet.org which means we really cannot just easily assume.

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