The declining state that the global economy has taken in the last few years has paved the way for increasing numbers of phishing attacks. The Anti-Phishing Workgroup recorded a dramatic 67.4% rise in these attacks within a year, as early as 2007.
It was observed that the spike in the number of phishing attacks often occur when there is a major development in the financial sector, such as banking acquisitions or downward movements in the stock market. It seems that cybercriminals are more than happy to take advantage of news that is potentially unsettling or upsetting to people who have stakes in the financial arena.
Cybercriminals are very clever, but the fact that they often use unsolicited email as a big part of their modus operandi remains unchanged. You will never be able to stop phishing emails from coming to you, but you can at least prevent these malicious emails from harming you. Here are eight tips to help you avoid falling prey to phishing attacks.
1. Regularly scan your computer. You should have anti-virus software installed on your computer. Also, make sure you scan your computer frequently and regularly with it. Also, you should always invest in a good, professional-quality security suite to protect your computer.
2. Do not respond to unsolicited requests for your personal information. Phishing emails can appear to tell you a lot and then demand your personal data with extreme urgency. You should be aware that banks and any trustworthy business or organization will prevent email phishing not ask you for your personal information.
3. Never reveal your username or password for any account. If you are asked for your username and password via email, don't give it. If you're setting up an account for the first-time, no legitimate company will ask for it.
4. Never click on untrusted links. You should always verify the authenticity of emails that claim to have been sent from reputable organizations or businesses. If you don't, your computer could be vulnerable to a Trojan horse virus or another type of attack. These links will download malware to your computer, and steal any information that you have.
5. Do not open executable email attachments. Many phishing emails include attachments with file extensions ending in ".exe", ".com" or ".scr". It is most likely that these attachments are viruses or malware and you should never open them.
6. Emails not addressed to you should not be responded to. If the email is impersonal and seems like it was sent to a mass-number of recipients, do not respond to it and delete it immediately. Phishing emails are generally general in nature and can be sent to millions of recipients simultaneously.
7. Verify the phone https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=prevent phishing email number before you call them. You should verify any email that claims to offer you a product or service. In this way, you can avoid getting trapped in a scam.
8. Report suspicious activity. Contact the business or organization immediately if you believe that a subscriber to an online business or organization is being spoofed in order to perpetrate phishing attacks. This will help the organization to respond quickly if it is reported.