How to Spot Phishing Scam
Phishing is a cybercrime. Cyber criminals use fraudulent method to obtain your personal and financial information such as your login details, bank account numbers and credit card numbers.
Normally the target or targets are contacted by email, instant messaging or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
Once cyber criminals obtain your personal information, they could gain access to your online accounts, and even impersonate you to scam the people around you, such as your family, friends and business partners.
So What is your level of cybercrime awareness? If there is a pending phishing attack, will you be able to spot?
If you are able to pick up signs of phishing, you can better protect yourself and your loved ones against phishing scams.
As cyber criminals increasingly come up with more convincing and sophisticated methods of phishing, it become more prevalent that before that we must be prepared for what might come our way. To prevent yourself from becoming a victim of phishing scams, learn to spot the signs of phishing.
With an internet penetration rate of 82% in 2020, 2nd highest within Southeast Asian region, its no wonder cyber criminal are eyeing Singapore.
Lets take a deep dive into 6 ways to look out for phishing
Mismatched and misleading information
For emails, look out for a sender’s email address that may look similar to a company’s official email address. Hover your mouse cursor over links in emails. When your mouse cursor hovers over a link, a small window will appear above the link to show you the actual URL, which is the real destination of the link. If the links are mismatched, it is a strong indicator that something ‘phishy’ is going on. If you are using a mobile device, long-press the link to display a window with the actual URL. Be careful not to tap and open the link!
For websites, don’t be deceived by how they look. Cyber criminals can easily create phishing websites that are visually similar to legitimate websites. To distinguish the two, take note of the URL in the address bar of your web browser. Cyber criminals often use tricks such as substituting letters in a URL to mislead you into thinking that you are on a legitimate website e.g. www.singpost1.com instead of www.singpost.com
Use of urgent or threatening language
Promises of attractive rewards
Requests for confidential information
Unexpected emails
Suspicious attachments
By keeping these six signs in mind and remaining vigilant at all times, you are able to steer away from falling for phishing scams
