Ten Signs of a Phishing Email

Phishing emails can come in all different and creative ways! Some have ‘telltale signs’ you can look for to suss out potential scammers.

1. It just doesn’t look right. There might be something not quite right with the email? Maybe it just sounds too good to be true? Trust your instincts if you think it might be dodgy!
2. Generic Salutations. Phishing emails often use generic names like ‘Dear Customer’ instead of addressing the email directly to you. This saves cybercriminals time so they can send emails out to more potential victims.
3. Links to official-looking sites asking for sensitive data. These fake sites are often very convincing, so make sure you check the site is real before handing over any personal information.
4. Unexpected emails that use your specific information. This might include information like your job title, previous employment or other information that can be obtained from social networking sites like LinkedIn and then used to make a phishing email more convincing.
5. Scare Tactics! Thieves often use language and phrases that are meant to scare you, such as ‘Your account has been breached’. This is to try and trick you into acting without thinking about it.
6. Poor grammar and/or spelling. This is normally the first thing you will notice. Even changes in fonts or spacing can be a sign.
7. The sense of urgency!! Scammers hope that if they rush you, you will just act. For example ‘If you don’t respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed’.
8. “You are our Grand Prize Winner!”. This is the most common of phishing emails and easy to spot. Another similar variation is asking you to complete a survey in return for a prize, thus handing over your personal information.
9. “Verify Your Account”. These are hard to tell from the real ones. If you are not expecting an email like this, always question why you are being asked – good chance it is a scam.
10. Cybersquatting. Sometimes cybercriminals will purchase and ‘squat’ on website names that are similar to an official website, hoping that someone will go to the wrong site, such as www.google.com vs. www.g00gle.com. Always check you are in the correct webpage before entering any personal information.