We are all very grateful to all Internet services and websites that make it easier for us to handle banks, pay our bills, buy stuff we need (and don’t need), book hotels, make travel reservations, and even work online… And the best thing is – we can do any of these things from any place in the world.
However, this comes with a price. All these things are true for online scammers as well.
This is why we at Stay At Home decided to start a column called Online Scams 2017 in which we will cover all the prominent online scams that currently raid the web.
Today, we focus on Phishing Email Scams.
Also read: TOP 5 INTERNET JOB SCAM WARNING SIGNS FOR 2017.
What Are Phishing Email Scams And How Do They Work?
As the very name suggests, phishing email scams are conducted through communication via your email or your social network account. They usually work like this:
Online scammers will send you a message and try to get your login credentials for your:
- bank account
- social network
- work account
- cloud storage
- other personal data valuable for them.
These phishing emails usually look like they are coming from an official source (think bank officials, financial institutes, delivery companies, social networks representatives), and they will try to trick you into clicking on the links and go to websites that look like real sites.
However, as these pages are actually controlled by the scammers, you will be sent to a fake login page via which you might end up giving them your login credentials and other valuable personal information.
A Sense Of Urgency
Cyber scammers will usually create a sense of urgency with some kind of “frightening story of how your bank account is under threat and how you really need to access as soon as possible a web page where your must insert your credentials in order to confirm your identity or your account,” says Cristina Chipurici, content marketing specialists at Heimdal Security.
“Of course, the provided link will only lead you to the fake web location and not to the real login page. After you fill in your online banking credentials, cyber criminals use them to breach your real bank account or to sell them on the dark web to other interested parties,” Cristina adds.
Phishing Email Scams are somehow still a thing and are one of the hottest online scams 2017. In order to get a full tutorial on how to avoid these, check out: The ABCs of Detecting and Preventing Phishing!