The business of phishing is big and growing. With 89% of phishing attacks being carried out by organized crime and 30% of the emails they send being opened, the numbers game is working in their favor. And don’t doubt, it is just a numbers game. They don’t care how large or small you are, they just want an easy mark. They can sell whatever they find, that’s not a problem. There’s a market for everything. But what they want is for you no to look to closely and click those links with confidence. They’ll take it from there.
The tactics they use are engineered to prey on your comfort level with those you trust. There are far fewer emails being sent by Nigerian princes, though still a few persist, and more are being sent in full Chase Bank, American Express or Paypal disguise. They will even contain certain vital information like the last 4 numbers of your account, or your login user name. But with just a small dose of healthy mistrust and a keen focus on behavior, it’s not that hard to pick out the phishing lures.
If Chase Bank is sending you account information it does not have a history of emailing you about in the past, it’s suspect. May not be a scam, but still worth taking a moment to check a couple of things. First, no matter how legit it looks hover over the Click Here buttons, or whatever the main call to action button is. If it is not the domain of the purported sender, it’s a scam. If it’s not clear, check the From address. The same rule applies. Is it from the amex.com account, or something completely alien to that?
Be aware, you have to be diligent, because they have been known to purchase domains like microsfot.com, or offiice.com in order to throw those off that are just doing a perfunctory scan. If both of these tests do not yield the results that leave you feeling 100% secure in either direction, independently open a browser and type in the URL of the company from which the email supposedly came from. DON’T CLICK A LINK to get there. Type it in, and navigate to the contact us page, and just ask them if it’s legit. Whoever the company is, will be able to tell you if the information in the email was from them or not. If it was, better safe than sorry. If not, you did good squashing a probable headache. Score one for the good guys!