3 More Tips to Avoid Phishing

If you read my previous post on 5 Tips to Help Avoid Phishing Scams, then you know that Phishing e-mails are designed to trick people into clicking links that allow the Phisher to either upload a virus or steal your information. That is only one possibility of what could happen.

The Wannacry Ransomware scandal that happened earlier this year is an example of this. Ransomware (for those who don’t know by now) is when a virus is uploaded to your files and disallows you from accessing them unless you pay the hacker to get your files back. All of this can occur because of a phishing e-mail that someone clicks on without paying attention to it. In the Last posting I gave you five tips to avoid getting Phished. Here are three more solid strategies that will help you secure your information in your digital space;

1) When in doubt, CALL the Person – There are many times when Phishers will pretend to be someone on your contact list to disguise their schemes. It’s an effortless way for Phishers to get into your system. If you receive an e-mail from someone you know in real life but are not expecting or in any way, you think that the e-mail may be phishing, pick up the phone and call the person. If you e-mail them back and ask if the e-mail is legit, it’s entirely possible you will be e-mailing the phisher, so naturally, they will tell you that the e-mail is legit. If you call the person and get them to verify or deny the e-mail is legit, you will get the truth.

I have seen a few examples where a person I knew got this type of e-mail, e-mailed the person they thought was e-mailing them back to confirm that it was not phishing and the phisher responded. We are so used to instantly responding to people who we know that if we’re not careful, we may end up responding to people we don’t.

2) Take another look at the sender’s e-mail – if you receive e-mails from someone with a .com e-mail address, make sure that when you get an e-mail from them that it is still a .com e-mail. if you get e-mails on a regular basis from someone with the e-mail sblanchard@yourcomapny.com and you get an e-mail from sblanchard@yourcompany.ca or sblanckard@yourcompany.com then this is a hint that the e-mail is phishing.

I’ve worked for a few different companies where this problem exists. When you’re reading an e-mail from someone, and it doesn’t sound like something they would say, check the e-mail of the person who sent it. If it’s not their e-mail, then they likely didn’t send it in the first place.

3) When you’ve found a phishing e-mail make sure that it’s gone – Once you have gone through and decided that the e-mail you received is a phishing e-mail you should delete the e-mail. To ensure that it won’t do any lasting damage, you should go ingot your e-mail’s deleted folder and permanently delete it from your e-mail. If the e-mail is just “trashed” and kept in your deleted folder it’s possible that it can still do damage to your machine and/or account. This is a security risk that you as a user should not take. It is ALWAYS better to delete from your trash bin in your e-mail account AND on your computer’s trash on a regular basis.

BONUS TIP; Technically, this isn’t a different tip, just one worth repeating. If you ever receive an email that you suspect of being phishing e-mail do not click on any links provided. The most significant line of defense is you. Once you click on the link, you are opening yourself up to the possibilities of being hacked, having all of your information stolen or having your information locked and then facing the possibility of having to pay some anonymous person to get it back

In this digital age where more and more is being kept in a digital space, it is the responsibility of the users to be one of the various lines of defense that guards your systems against anyone who would try to intrude on your digital space. It is vital that we take time to ensure that the e-mail we receive is safe. It doesn’t take much time to ensure that what you get is the genuine article, but it’s worth it. Having to overhaul your computer or change your credit card information entirely requires a great deal more effort.

Have you ever recognized a Phishing e-mail when you saw it? 

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