Phishing Activities and How to Spot Them
Phishing is a kind of cybercrime that's highly prevalent today. As the digital world continues to expand, criminals keep finding ways to keep up with the innovation. In general, phishing is when criminals pretend to be trustworthy sources online to attract unsuspecting victims- asking for their personal information like account details, credit card information, and many more.
What's bothersome is that phishing attacks can come in various forms. They can use your identity to lure other people, or you can be the victim that unknowingly provides them with your sensitive information.
It's particularly crucial to be aware of the various types of phishing to avoid them. Bear in mind that the main idea of phishing is to steal valuable information. There are other types of it that you should also know.
Email Phishing
Email phishing is probably one of the most common kinds of cybercrime. In this method, criminals imitate a reputable individual or organization's identity and send emails to various obtained addresses.
In most cases, the emails are written as if the matter is urgent, informing the receivers to take prompt action as their accounts are compromised. The collective goal is to get information from the receiver by providing them links they need to fill up. Unfortunately, many people still fall victim to this kind of scam.
Whaling
Whaling is a more sophisticated kind of phishing. It doesn't just target anyone; its common victims include reputable organizations or senior executives, known as "the big fish." Many cases of whaling involve targeting high-ranking officials of companies, such as the CFO, CEO, and other executives.
In whaling, the executives will receive a notification or an email stating that their company's reputation is compromised, like being sued. The pressure will then force the receiver to click malicious links, which then redirects them to the hands of the criminal.
This kind of phishing still happens these days because most companies don't have protection against it. While some financial institutions use software for fraud detection, not all have protection against phishing activities.
Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is the same as email phishing, and the only difference is that instead of targeting random individuals, it targets specific people from the same organization. For instance, it targets employees from one company, sending them personalized emails, making them believe that the email is from someone within their network.
Smishing
Smishing, also known as SMS phishing, uses text messages to lure its victims. Here, criminals send text messages using the names of legitimate sources, such as businesses. The messages typically contain malicious links disguised as discount coupons or offers that will give receivers the chance to win prizes.
Vishing
Vishing or voice phishing is also an old phishing scheme where criminals use phone calls to attack their victims. Like other phishing methods, vishing uses the identity of legitimate institutions, like government entities or banks. Often, they ask victims to provide their personal information like bank account details for updating purposes.
Clone Phishing
Clone phishing is the act of cloning a legitimate email and changing the links it contains. Here, you will first receive an email from a legitimate source. But then you will receive another one having the same message, and the only difference is that it contains an excuse of resending as the sender needs to update the link due to several issues.
Social Media Phishing
Since social media has become one of the most used platforms these days, cyber-criminals made sure to attack victims here too. Here, criminals use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to attain their victim's information by luring them to click links.
One of the most common methods in social media phishing is hackers creating fake accounts to impersonate an individual. They add the person's friends and family and send them messages asking for money. Since people think the person behind the account is someone they know, they send money without any doubt.
How To Spot A Phishing Activity
Because of the numerous methods used by criminals to lure victims, it's not usually easy to spot phishing activities. Here are some signs to watch out for:
Asking for your personal information. Beware of sending sensitive information. If you have an account with a bank, they already have your data, so they will never ask for it again through email.
A sudden high-pressure situation. Criminals typically use high-pressure situations to ensure that you take action and click links right away.
Suspicious attachments or links. Do not open links from unknown sources. Hackers use this method to gain access to your accounts.
Exceptionally good offers. If you receive an email with too good to be true offers, there is a high chance that it's a phishing tactic luring you to become one of its many victims.
The best defense to ensure that you don't become a phishing victim is by being aware. Avoid clicking links from sources you don't know and do not give sensitive information through emails, text messages, or phone calls.