Phish Are Not Friends, You Are Food

Let me make it extremely clear — Phish are not friends. They are scammers and conmen posing as legitimate businesses to steal your money. Their plan is simple: act friendly in your emails, lure you in with concerns or offers, and steal your information.

Most phishing scams can be found in the online dating world. You might be wondering how many potential partners are bait. Keep calm and don’t panic. There are plenty of ways to avoid phish attacks.

Two Types of Phish

There are two types of phishing scams: email phishing and spear phishing. Both scams will require you to input sensitive information to get what they want. However, they have different and specific methods.

• Email Phishing

As the name implies, this type of phishing attack happens through email. The scammer will pose as a credible institution or credible dating site. Links in the email will tell you to click on them to solve a money problem or present a tempting offer.

Once you click on the link, it will redirect you to an almost exact copy of a credible website. There, they will wait for you to input your sensitive credentials by monitoring your screen from their hideouts.

After you’ve typed in your information, the scammers will instantly grab whatever money they can. Just like that, your hard-earned cash disappears into thin air.

• Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is a more specific and direct attack against companies or businesses. They pose as a staff member and email you to send information to them. Usually, they send mundane emails like, “Update on this project’s status.”

When you input the information, the scammer will infiltrate your company’s system. The target is money and information. If they have information from your business, they can sell it to your competitors.

Don’t Get Hooked

A phishing scam is a large-scale numbers game. It doesn’t matter how much they get from you because they’re doing it to over a thousand other people. They can get $10 from you and over $1000 from the next person.

The best way for you to defend yourself against phishing is to think before you click. Most phishing scams are pretty obvious for their misspelled business names. Here are a few other ways to avoid getting scammed:

• Stay informed

Always stay updated on the latest phishing techniques. The more informed you are, the more likely you can spot a phishing attempt.

• Beware the Pop-Up

Pop-ups are the bane of all anti-virus software. They show flashy and appealing offers that lure you in. Even if you didn’t mean to click it on purpose, the scammer will get your information.

• Update your passwords regularly

Always update your password regularly. Even more, don’t have the same password for every account. You don’t want a key to open every lock in your house, would you?

Phish Attack Was Not Effective!

Although a phishing attack may not be as harmless as a pokemon move, you can still defend against it. Be suspicious of deals that will cost you almost nothing. Those are obvious links to scams and viruses.

Remember: Phish are not friends.