We can all fall for phishing scams. Not all are as easy to spot as the Nigerian royalty email, or the badly written notification from your bank that you should follow this link and enter your details to confirm your identity.
Phishing is more sophisticated and more personal than ever, and it is likely that we will all teeter on the brink of entering more information than we should. All it takes is for the perfectly crafted email to arrive at the perfect time (usually when you’re extremely busy, racing towards a deadline) and your chances of spotting the signs and avoiding the trap decrease dramatically.
Our top tips for protecting yourself from phishing are:
- Examine you company culture – companies with rigid hierarchical structures encourage staff to obey instruction without question, dramatically decreasing the likelihood that staff will question emails they find unusual.
- Hover over any link contained in the email. Does the link contain the URL you expect? Is it spelt correctly?
- Read the email addresses and companies named in the email twice. Are they spelt correctly?
- Is the email addressed to you, using your forename and surname? If it’s addressed to your email address, this makes it more suspicious.
Go to the website of the company the email purports to be from, and read their statement on suspicious emails. It is likely that they will provide advice on what to do if you’re suspicious of any communication.
