Have you ever received an email that seemed a little bit suspicious or you don’t recognize the email sender? Well, phishing emails are a huge problem and millions of people have been affected or have received scam emails. As scary as it is to find out that another individual on the internet might have hacked into your email or sent you a very scary email, it’s sadly something uncommonly heard of today. We can learn how to spot them and make sure we don’t reply to these emails. Here are five tips to detect a phishing email the next time you open up your email account.
1. Grammar Errors or Misspelled Words
If the email is filled with grammar or misspelled words then this is a sign that this is a scam. Emails coming from reliable organizations or companies have spelling-checking tools that ensure their emails are grammatically correct.
2. Emails Demanding Urgent Action
Emails demanding urgent action otherwise there will be negative consequences is another likelihood that it’s a phishing email. When companies are sending out their monthly newsletter emails to their customers they never require urgent action and this is an approach that hackers use in order to get their recipients nervous. When people see this type of email they get nervous and sadly fall into the trap.
3. Suspicious Attachments
If an email includes suspicious attachments like .zip,.exe,.scr, or other attachments that are not commonly used, this is a huge sign that this could be a scam. When sending an email most companies or people usually share attachments such as Sharepoint, OneDrive, or even Dropbox.
Most of these uncommon attachments are usually attachments that contain viruses that once opened, cannot be taken off your computer and will gather sensitive information.
4. Starting with Unfamiliar Greetings
In general, emails that are exchanged in work situations between colleagues usually have an informal salutation. However, outside of that emails that start with “dear” or phrases that are usually used in an informal conversation could arouse some suspicion. Especially if it’s so cold coming from a company.
5. Emails Requesting Payment Information or Sensitive Data
Finally, If you are receiving an email that is requesting payment information and you do not know who the sender is then block the email as this is a phishing email. Unless you planned on receiving an email containing a payment then I would also double-check the receiver’s email. It’s better to be safe than sorry. These links that are attached to the emails asking for payment information will direct you to fake pages that look legitimate but aren’t. These scammers are trying to take your information and hack into your accounts.
Detect Phishing Emails with Mindcore
As common and realistic looking as these phishing emails are, by using these tricks you will be able to spot a scam email the next time you’re on your email account. Do not be afraid and the best thing you can do is block the email receiver or report them through your email account. In order to combat this problem, share this information with others so they are also able to avoid phishing emails. Contact Mindcore today to get cyber security solutions that can help you get rid of phishing emails!
