To protect yourself from phishing scams sent through e-mail, if an email looks suspicious, don't risk your personal information by responding to it. Delete junk email messages without opening them. Sometimes even opening spam can alert spammers or put an unprotected computer at risk.
Malicious emails are one way that hackers try to get access to your private information. If you receive a spam email, you should delete it immediately—do not open any attachments or click any links. It only takes one wrong click, and hackers can gain access to your entire computer.
The thing that puts you at the biggest risk of being hacked is opening an attachment in an email message. Hackers can hide viruses, ransomware, and other types of malware in these pieces of media.
Typically, a user will need to download an attachment or click on a phishing link for a cybercriminal to be able to infect a device. It is still a good rule of thumb to simply avoid opening any emails which you suspect to be spam or malicious.
Inconsistencies in Email Addresses, Links & Domain Names
Another simple way to identify a potential phishing attack is to look for discrepancies in email addresses, links and domain names.
Incorrect (but maybe similar) sender email addresses. Links that don't go to official websites. Spelling or grammar errors, beyond the odd typo, that a legitimate organization wouldn't miss.
Change Passwords: Hackers can access your credentials via phishing links, so if you think you clicked on one, changing your online passwords, particularly to things like bank accounts, is essential to avoid further damage.
It's also possible hackers could use your email account to gain access to your bank account or credit card information, draining funds from an account, or racking up charges. They might even use your email and password to sign up for online sites and services, sticking you with monthly fees in the process.
While opening an email is generally not dangerous, once you interact with it in some way, usually by opening an attachment that looks like an executable file, the malware is delivered into your email and computer where it can then wreak havoc. Your spam email box is generally filled with harmful links and attachments.
If you've clicked on a phishing link, the first thing you should do is quit the browser or application you were using. This will stop the fraudster from using your smartphone to conduct any other scams. Close any new tabs or windows that the link may have opened right away.
In the past, you could get hacked just by opening an email due to the vulnerabilities in the email clients. These days, to get hacked through email, you need to either open malicious attachments or click on phishing email links.
You can't sign into your email account. Hackers will often lock you out of your account as soon as they get access. If your normal email password isn't working, there's a good chance you've been hacked. There are strange messages in your “Sent” folder.
Yes, your email account can be hacked without a password if you click on a malicious link, download an infected attachment, or use a compromised public Wi-Fi network. Hackers use these methods to access your email account and steal your personal information or send spam messages from your account.
No, don't delete your email, even after it's been hacked. This is because most email providers will recycle old and deleted email addresses. If you're concerned, stop using your email for sending or receiving messages, but don't delete it.
A cybercriminal could also enter your home address into a public database to see if they can find any other useful information about you that they can exploit. Additionally, hackers can use your home address to redirect your mail.
It's unlikely, but possible. If a cybercriminal has your phone number, they might attempt to gather more information about you to gain access to your bank account.
To safely access a suspicious link, enable VPN and antivirus real-time protection. Also, check the actual URL in a text editor and access it using incognito mode.
If your email client allows scripting, then it is possible to get a virus by simply opening a message. It's best to limit what HTML is available in your email messages. The safest way to view email messages is in plain text.
Unusual, unknown, or public domain
These domain-related indicators usually point to a phishing email: The message is from a public email domain like gmail.com. The email address contains unusual special characters. The domain name is misspelled, e.g., bill@nicrosoft. com instead of [email protected].
Phishing puts individuals, companies, educational institutions and others at risk due to the possibility of allowing the bad guys to gain access to financial information, personal data, proprietary company information, health information, student data and much more.
AML red flags are warning signs, such as unusually large transactions, which indicate signs of money laundering activity. If a company detects one or more red flags in a customer's activity, it should pay closer attention. In many cases, companies have to submit suspicious activity reports to authorities.