Knowing the Signs

IT consultants in Los Angeles have to continuously maintain familiarity with the latest fraudulent enterprises involving email. The best security can’t outpace “social engineering” hacks. Cybercriminals use human nature against people to obtain privileged information–often by pretending to be someone or something they’re not. But if you know the signs of such phishing attacks, you’ll less likely be taken in.

Clear Signs of a Phishing Scam

Keep in mind, what defines a phishing scam continuously changes. As targets learn what to look for, scammers alter tactics. That said, the following features of scam emails tend to be pretty common:

• Emails That Come Out of the Blue Without Solicitation
• Horrible English and Strange Time Stamps
• When URLs in an Email Aren’t Real
• URLs That Just Don’t Match

Emails That Come Out of the Blue Without Solicitation

One of the most common phishing emails is the type that seems to come out of nowhere and demand certain privileged information. It might say you won in a raffle, or that you’re going to be in trouble with the government if you don’t do something. If you’ve got a PAB, or Phishing Alert Button, you can send such emails to your IT department for examination. Usually, these emails won’t be legitimate. Sometimes, they’re even unsophisticated.

Horrible English and Strange Time Stamps

IT consultants in Los Angeles advise that emails with ridiculous English are probably phishing scams. Poor syntax, poor punctuation, bad spelling and grammar, improper capitals, wrong vocabulary–these are all signs of an email drafted by some individual or group of hackers from another country.

Another red flag is if the email timestamp is, for instance, at three in the morning, or a time that doesn’t match with when the email should be sent.

When URLs in an Email Aren’t Real

Suppose that you get an email saying your Facebook account has been hacked. It tells you to go to www.22.fatchebox.com. Beware–that’s a scam. It may look legitimate, but it’s not. Watch out for such situations.

URLs That Just Don’t Match

If the URL in the link doesn’t match the name of the business it is supposed to represent, that’s another red flag. So if you got an email from “Amazon.com” but the URL is “deals.amazonian.web”, that’s a scam.

Being Aware of the Scams Out There

IT consultants in Los Angeles through Advanced Networks advise you to be very suspicious of unsolicited emails with bad English, inexplicable timestamps, fake URLs, and URLs that don’t match the companies they claim to represent.

While these aren’t the only signs indicating a phishing attempt, they are some of the most relevant. Contact us to learn more.