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IT Support for Southern California Businesses

Don’t Get Hooked by a Phishing Scheme

email spam mail envelope

Impersonation is a crime when it lacks consent and used for unjust practices. Impersonation is not limited to only imitating individuals in real life, but on the Web as well. Hackers have mastered the act of impersonating other businesses or programs to trick us, and phishing is one of them. 

Phishing Schemes

Phishing activities have been observed from the 1980s and still continue to infect our devices. Phishing is an illegal act where cybercriminals pose as trustworthy internet entities. There are various ways in which hackers implement phishing activities to extract data from online users. A common phishing procedure is through email. A phishing email is a bogus email that is carefully designed to look like a legitimate request or attached file from a sender we usually trust. Hackers could impersonate our boss, co-worker, schools, and so much more! They look exactly like a certified email!

TIP

Phishing emails may look innocuous, but are far from innocent. Identify the signs and delete suspicious emails right away. Your best defense is to avoid ever clicking email links and visit sites directly if you have concerns.

Phishing Schemes

Phishing activities have been observed from the 1980s and still continue to infect our devices. Phishing is an illegal act where cybercriminals pose as trustworthy internet entities. There are various ways in which hackers implement phishing activities to extract data from online users. A common phishing procedure is through email. A phishing email is a bogus email that is carefully designed to look like a legitimate request or attached file from a sender we usually trust. Hackers could impersonate our boss, co-worker, schools, and so much more! They look exactly like a certified email!

Don’t take the bait! Look for signs.

  • Check for misspelled words and incorrect grammar. In most cases, legitimately certified emails will not have improper spellings and grammatical errors. However, it is not uncommon to find mistakes in phishing emails because hackers need their emails to go through spam filters. These filters are specialized to hunt down common words that are found in fake emails. At the same time, why would credible companies and individuals send you an email with easy to spot errors? It will just ruin their image.
Don’t Get Hooked by a Phishing Scheme
  • Hover over the URL. Many emails will include a link that you can click to that will give hackers access to your data. You can hover over these links (BUT DO NOT CLICK) to see the actual website you will be directed to. Some links will show a preview of its URL. You can judge its legitimacy through that.
  • Contact the company. If you are suspicious about the email, it never hurts to get in contact with a customer service representative. We need to be careful about giving out our information. If the email is requiring you to provide sensitive information and you find yourself wondering “why?”, get a hold of the company. Not only will this help you, but it will inform the company of the phishing scheme and put a stop to it.
  • It’s too good to be true. We have all come across a “Free Trip!” email once in our life and may have fallen for it by clicking on the link. This usually redirects us to a series of information requirements we need to provide. Hackers often use this tactic to excite users to click the trip offer only to trap them into giving out their information. Just exit out of the site and call a reputable IT company that can assess your device for any infections from the email.

Why should I care?

Let’s be honest, at times, we find ourselves scrolling through our emails and accidentally opening one we did not intend to. Cybercrime is at an all-time high and is not slowing down anytime soon. Technology is rapidly growing and many people have not caught up to its advancements. We need to make sure we are safe by taking precautions or by reaching out to an IT company (US!) that has our protection in their best interest. 

How Can Captain IT Help?

Cybercrime is at an all-time high, and hackers are setting their sights on small and medium businesses who are “low hanging fruit.” Don’t be their next victim! Click here to download this free report that reveals the most common ways that hackers get in and how to protect yourself. 

We work 24/7 year-round to ensure that your business does not fall prey to data breaches. For more information on how your business can best be protected, schedule a FREE 2-hour assessment with Captain IT by filling out the form linked. 

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