Know These Signs to Not Be a Victim of Phishing | Antivirus Software

9 signs that you are about to fall into phishing Your email is not as safe as you think.

What is phishing?

Phishing or phishing is a fraud in which a user is deceived into obtaining confidential information. These messages are often targeted at companies or even ordinary people who use email on their phones, to obtain funds or confidential information.

If you think that you are not important enough to be targeted with phishing emails, know that everyone is vulnerable, because all this is done automatically by systems that rely on artificial intelligence and try to penetrate as many systems IP addresses as possible.

Know these signs so you won't be the next victim of these scammers 

First tag: An electronic message from "Social Security"

If you have nothing to do with the Social Security Administration, you will be aware that this email is phishing, as the volume of phishing scams from sources claiming to be the Social Security Bureau is high. The first thing to know is that Social Security does not call or email, so if you get a call, be skeptical because the government employee will never contact you for payment or to ask for your personal information over the phone.

The second sign: Email elicits an emotional response

The most effective phishing emails have a rush or show emotional interest. Because if fraudsters want you to click on a link, they need to make sure you're interested! Michel Bousquet, a professor at Tulane University, explains some examples of these messages “include threats about overdue bills, and incentives for special offers that you can only take advantage of if you act now, in these cases it is always important to check the sender who is supposed to contact you.” If a family member is asking for money, call them. If it's an electric company, call the number on your actual bill to see if there's really a problem.

The third sign: strange mail attachments

When was the last time your bank sent the files attached? Or when did your uncle send you a PDF by email? If the attachment seems blurry, it is time to close the window.

You may receive links and attachments from one of your friends' compromised accounts. Many smart people are fooled in this way because they are less suspicious. E-mail users should not fill in any personal information without completely ascertaining the identity of the sender.

Fourth tag: email contains grammatical errors

Could your school, tax administration, or employer mix the spelling of words? Maybe not. Since many of the phishing attempts may stem from people who do not speak the same language as you, emails may not be grammatically correct. Stacy Clements, a retired cybersecurity operations officer, says that grammatical errors will no longer appear in phishing emails because phishing techniques have become more sophisticated and he adds that they may still exist, but today phishing emails are well written, appear to be from a reliable source, and even use tags. Logo correct. '

Fifth sign: The identity of the sender is not clear

Fraudsters may also deceive their targets by using links similar to email accounts of already trusted companies, making small changes that you may not notice, especially on mobile devices. For example, you might receive a phishing email from a sender claiming to be “Bank of America” from an address such as “ 1BankofAmerica@BOA1-bank.com. ” Downloading a virus by mistake is one of the fatal errors in laptop life.

PayPal phishing email

Many fraudsters rely on the technique of framing their malicious links as reputable sites. Therefore, when you receive a scary or urgent-looking e-mail, on your computer, you must pass the “click here” link for the full link to appear and then search it carefully. For example,  www.amazon.com is not the same as  www.amazon.myevilwebsite.com. The same strategy applies to mobile devices. If you press and hold on to the link in the message on the Gmail app, a pop-up window will display containing the URL that the link will direct you to, and asking if you want to continue. As for the “Mail” app on iPhone, this option is not available.

Seventh Sign: Request to sign in to Dropbox or Google Drive 

This is a common way to target e-mail to individuals and companies, as phishers can abuse the service to create a web page that allows the user to use the Internet. These “faulty” windows are known formally as “DNS hijacking”. Next time think carefully before entering a password from an email, and try logging in from Google or the Dropbox homepage instead.

The eighth sign: threatening with an old password

The big fraud that is sent via e-mail is the sender claiming to have hacked your webcam while watching a pornographic video, and threatening to send it to your friends if you don't pay it, and to prove the authenticity of his statement, he claims that he has accessed the password of your accounts. Most likely, he got it by purchasing the passwords from a darknet vendor. And he did not hack anything and only has your password, and maybe an old account, so you mustn't respond to these messages.

Tag 9: The sender claims to be technical support

Atef Mushtaq, CEO,, and founder of the anti-phishing company, Slashnext, says the most common phishing emails claim to be a virus or bug on your computer. These scams are nothing but an attempt to lure victims and make them pay for their alleged help. Once connected to a computer, they may install malware to gain remote access or steal important data. 

How can I protect myself from phishing?

Take precautionary measures against phishing emails.

 Make sure your password is hard to guess.

 Make sure your accounts require a second login verification form (two-factor authentication).

Always be careful when opening links, and research their sources before clicking.

Consider installing antivirus software on your computer, and don't ignore security warnings.

 Download an anti-phishing browser to protect you from future attacks.