I get it, I honestly do. The email looks so legitimate and you want to make sure that your PayPal account is in order, or your Microsoft account won’t get shut down, but take heed to this warning… These are email scams and they are not real.

Do not believe a word of those fake emails. I know what you are thinking, though, “how do I know which emails are real and which are emails scams?” This post will tackle the issues of what phishing emails are and how to recognize them, so you can keep your company, and your own technology, safe.

According to Phishing.org, an organization committed to fighting phishing, “phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.” These email scams purposely target business men and women, so they can either steal critical information from them, or install malware or spyware on a device or network. This issue is an imminent threat to many businesses. According to Phishing.org, 85% of organizations have been targeted by a phishing attack and more than 100 billion phishing emails are sent out each day! With these statistics in mind, here are top 5 signs to help you identify email scams, so that you can be on the lookout.

Email Scams Top 5 Signs

1. There is a sense of urgency in the emails. Hackers will want to drive you to some sort of action in a quick manner so that you will make a poor decision without thinking.
2. These emails and the information in these emails are often too good to be true. There are offers for a free iPhone, a lump sum of money, or some other incredible prize that the hackers try to entice you to respond to or click a link, don’t do it!
3. The email address does not match the name. If you were to get an email from Ms. K. Creasy, but the email address is kfane@phsd14.net, it is a spam email.
4. There are attachments that just don’t make sense. Attachments on the email will include some sort of ransomware or other viruses. The only type of file that is safe to click on is a .txt file.
5. Hyperlinks do not go to the correct site. The hyper links may seem to be legitimate, but if you hover over the hyperlink, it will show you the actual URL. Pay close attention to these URLs because there could be a link to bankorarnerica.com instead of bankofamerica.com since the “rn” looks like an “m”

If you have more questions about Phishing and protecting your company from malware and viruses, call us today at (937) 346-8490 and ask about our security packages for your business!

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Stay tuned and be on the lookout for our next blog explaining how you can protect yourself!