It is a concern we deal with on a daily basis. This masquerade of fake links and spoofs that make us hopeful, when all they desire are our credit card numbers, personal data or usernames and passwords to SomeSite.com. So, the question is: Do you have what it takes to outsmart phishing scammers? To do this, you’ll need to spot the signs of a fake email. Today, we’re going to show you a fake phishing email we received and you get to see if you can spot the five reasons you should be suspicious. Just to let you know, two of the reasons are going to be tough without having the real email in front of you. However, these are things you should look for in any email you get, and we’ll tell you how later. That being said, here’s the email.
1. Email addresses
2. Links
To spot this trick in other emails, hover your mouse cursor over the button or link. You’ll see the real link pop up after a few seconds. You could also right-click on the link, copy it and then paste it into a text document to see where it would really send you.
3. Language
4. Instructions
Aside from how the email is constructed, pay close attention to what it asks you to do. It says that there was a security problem with your account and you need to click a button to log in. That’s a classic phishing technique. Any responsible company that’s sending out an unsolicited security notification will tell you to go to its website home page and log in to your account from there. It might tell you to call customer service with any questions. It won’t tell you to click a button or link, or download an attachment.
5. Fine print
So, how many of those problems did you spot? Would this email have fooled you if it showed up in your inbox? Let us know how you did in the comments, and if there was anything else that tipped you off that we didn’t cover.
