Phishing emails are the most common cause of spreading malware. Malicious messages inside such spurious emails are mainly the traps designed to trick you with some virus. Once you get a malware meant to harm you with a data breach or some other way, how would you get to know about it? Here, the smart way to avoid these scams and keep yourself safe is to identify the fake methods by which scammers can trick you.
It can be something like a hook to lure you and get you caught in. Similarly, fake emails can pretend to offer you something you care about or providing the help you’re looking for and such others. A malicious email may appear like the legitimate one having an appealing headline yet misleading, and the message that may sound more than real. Also, there may be some links included in the mail to make you click on it and redirect you to some scamming websites.
Some common points that you can identify whether it is a phishing email – like email from a credit card company, or details of expected package delivery, or requests for financial aid, even informing you about winning big money or lottery prize. You may get some spam message about a stranger sending you a date request, or there is an email about some profitable investment scheme. These may also include some download links or some attachments that can expose you to some malware attack. These and other similar messages on emails are suspicious, and you should beware of them.
Always check for any signs that are suspicious and never respond in a hurry and without ensuring everything is legitimate and secure in the email you receive. Get help from the following points to identify whether the email you get is likely some scam.
Unsolicited Email
Look for whether sensitive information about your company is on stake. Because the company you’re doing business with has your information beforehand and it’s quite unlikely that it’ll ask you for it again. Similarly, if you get a call asking critical details, it can be a scam because this is no more the way to seek information these days, and you should not respond such a spurious call to avoid any security risks. You can make sure with the mentioned entity in the email about such intimation and identify the legitimacy of the message or call. Always use the contact number you already have on your phone than the one in the spam email. The same is right in case you have to assure with the entity through email, use the email address you already have than the one in the spam email.
Emails with Fake URLs
The main motive of a spurious email is to lead you to some suspicious website and trick you with some malicious activity. Do check for the URL given in the email as if it does not look genuine, don’t go ahead with it. Hackers may trick you with some altered URL that sounds similar to a trusted website. A legitimate web site has a simple and straight URL like https://www.supportnerds.us/. The scammers may send you something like support.nerds.us or support.nerds.scam.com or something with similarly twisted URL. Not to forget cross-checking the URL before making a click on it. Another smart way to double-check the URL is to type it on the search engine, as the following result can suggest you better about its genuineness.
URLs Don’t Appear Legitimate
Hackers adopt a common practice – they use some official website address like https://www.supportnerds.us/ to send you a message including a malicious URL to redirect you to some unknown website. It may trick you with some cybersecurity breach or infect your system with some malware. You can identify the URL by hovering your cursor over as it will show you the actual link displayed at the screen bottom. Never respond to such emails or URLs that don’t appear legitimate. Being alert, you can ensure not to get trapped into any possible cyber threats.
Emails with Vague Messages
Hackers may not be good at writing emails that you may see with not proper email formatting, vague email message, spelling mistakes, and such others. Hackers focus more on codes. English or writing email may not be their expertise. So you can find hints of the same into the emails and identify that it has arrived from some malicious source. Such signs can help you decide the legitimacy of an email. On the other hand, emails from legitimate sources have proper formatting and clear messages. Be attentive whether you’ve received some spurious message in your mailbox, immediately flag such message as spam, and protect yourself.
Look for similar traits every time you get an email, also report it as spam right away if you find anything unusual in it. Reach out to Support Nerds experts on on 888-462-2719 to know effective measures on preventing yourself from phishing and malware events.
Being aware of different phishing scams in the run at present can help you put a firm check on malicious activities of hackers. Our seasoned professionals can assist you with best in class cybersecurity practices to help keep your business and data secured from any unexpected loss.
Applying best security solutions can’t even guarantee full-proof safety, yet knowing the best practices to identify a scam can help in minimizing the effect to the least. Talk to our IT experts today to discover effective ways to safeguard against sneakiest scams exiting on the web.