How To Spot Cyber Phishing Scams

While surfing the internet, it’s important to always be on the lookout for scams. And yes, you might’ve heard it a million times before, but there’s a reason why scams are still a thing. In just one year, the Federal Trade Comission received an increase of 70% of fraud reports from consumers. The losses totalled to more than $5.8 billion in 2021! Now if that doesn’t convince you to keep watch for scams something else sure will. 

Let’s get into 6 ways to spot phishing scams.

#1 Irrelevant and misleading information

When receiving an email from a company like Google or Instagram, always check the sender’s email address and links in the email. Many times, hackers try to replicate the company’s real email address and if you aren’t paying attention you won’t even notice. 

To check links, hover your mouse over any links included in the email or any buttons and see where they’re taking you. If the URL shows a matching destination and not something that looks like “https://www.google.[something].com” then you’re fine. If you’re on your phone you can long-press the link and it’ll show the result in a small window. 

Whatever you do, don’t click any links. Instead just delete the email right away and forget about it. 

#2 Urgency throughout the email

Scammers use the sense of urgency so that people have no time to logically react to a situation. For example, an email might say that your PayPal account will be terminated in 18 hours because of whatever reason. If this happens, do not reply directly to this email. Instead, message PayPal and ask them if this is true. 

Most of the time, it won’t be. Companies purposely don’t use urgency when it comes to things like this because they know many people will simply ignore the email or delete thinking it’s a phishing scam. 

#3 Promises of rewards

If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. This goes for everything you see on the internet – really! From car rentals to hotel bookings. Be on the lookout wherever you are buying something online that the URL has a lock in front of it. This means the domain is safe and protected by security software. If you get an email saying you just won a free trip to the Bahamas, unfortunately, it’s probably not true. 

#4 Requests for private information

Companies will never, ever ask for you personal information. Why would they if they already have it in their systems? Scammers on the other hand do. They might ask you for your bank account number while claiming to be your bank. If you ever receive a message from your bank asking for any confidential information about you or your account, contact them directly and notify them of this message.

#5 Unexpected emails or phone calls

When somebody calls you to confirm the item you bought yesterday on Amazon, don’t even listen to the rest of the conversation. First of all, why would any Amazon employee call you about a package? Secondly, scammers do these kind of “tests” in bulks hoping to have at least some people reply. In emails, they include links to websites or products and people do click on them – be aware and delete the email immediately or hang up the phone. 

#6 Suspicious attachments

Cyber criminals put attachments into emails they send you in order to download malicious software onto your computer. From spyware to malware, anything you install from the attached files in emails can potentially harm your computer. Some malware can even let the hacker control your computer from wherever they are – scary! So if you see something attached to an email from anyone, check the ending part of the file name. If it ends with .exe don’t click it and delete the email immediately. 

Save yourself from a cyber scam

Spotting scams is the most important lesson we should always carry around with us on the internet. If you do end up falling for any type of phishing scam, don’t panic. There are several steps you’ll need to follow. These include: change all your passwords, freeze any bank cards (if the scam had to do with your bank info), run an antivirus, and keep an eye on your accounts for any suspicious activity. Also, don’t stop learning about scams via other platforms like social media and even SMS.