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
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:
- Beware of Paypal Account Blocked Emails Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes If you’re a Paypal account holder then you better read on. As a morning routine, I normally start-off the day checking my emails and filing them out after reading them on my folders. As part of the task, I also check the spam folder...
- Phishing Scam Links from Twitter Direct Messages Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes This post may come to you as something that isn’t new however I just thought that it may serve as a reminder whenever you get direct messages on Twitter and tempted to click on the links. It’s not once or twice that I have...
- HOW TO: Identify a Phising Site Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes Based on my previous post about using Yahoo Sign-in Seal against password theft, I have mentioned the idea behind phishing websites and the concept of phishing and phishing emails. In conjunction with that topic, this post is aimed at shedding light about the various...
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
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
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
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.