In this digital era, phishing scams have become one of the most popular means of attack across the globe. Although phishing scams have been around from the time of the inception of the internet, the only difference is, that the ways and methods of approaching the pray are constantly changing. There are numerous ways to prevent phishing scams that we will talk about in this particular blog post. Stay tuned to get rid of phishing emails.
With the advent of digitalization, phishing has become a hugely profitable business. Hackers constantly develop new ways to approach their potential prays. By being smart and identifying effective ways to prevent phishing scams, we can save our online reputation and business from potential harm.
According to the latest cyber security reports, it has been estimated that end users are the most fragile and vulnerable targets in almost every organization. They are bombarded with spear-phishing and socially engineered scams infinite times. By safeguarding your email, you can successfully avoid phishing scams in the long run.
Increased in Phishing Scams in 2020-2021
According to the reports by PhishLabs, it was estimated that in 2020 spam emails were over 50% of all the global email traffic. Moreover, it has been evaluated that there is a 47% increase in phishing attempts from 2020 to 2021.
Phishing scams are so common nowadays that it is very hard how to recognize and avoid phishing scams? Such mails commonly impersonate big and well-established businesses like PayPal, Apple, and banks in order to steal your personal information such as account credentials.
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However, as per the reports of PhishLabs, social media accounts have been increasingly becoming a medium of the target since several users are careless about securing them. We have curated a list of tried and tested ways how to prevent phishing. Let’s see what they are!
Before diving into the ways let us know what exactly phishing means.
What is Phishing?
In layman’s language, phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails that are pretended to be from a reputed company. The purpose of such emails is to lure people into disclosing their personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers. This is known as a phishing scam.
In other cases, there is a malicious hyperlink attached to the mail which when opened can take over your entire system. It is important to make sure that in any case, you mustn’t give your personal information to avoid phishing emails.
Who is the target of phishing?
Although hackers and phishers will target anyone but most likely they target CEOs of big firms CFOs, legal firms, human resources, and financial institutions. In fact, over the past few years, many online stores and social networks have witnessed a huge increase in phishing attacks. It is crucial to be on high alert in order to know how to stop phishing emails.
In this era where everything is run on the internet, it is next to impossible to not be a victim of phishing scams if you are not alert and smart enough. Here are 10 ways how to stop phishing emails and correctly identify and prevent them.
Keep Yourself Up to Date About Phishing Techniques
In this digital world, phishing scam techniques are evolving each day. If you are not updated with these techniques then you can easily be a victim of the same. Make sure to have a thorough knowledge of all the phishing techniques so that the hacker can not approach you.
Think Before Clicking on Links
It is safe to click on a link if it is from a reliable source. There are higher chances that even a phishing email might claim to be as legit and authentic. But when you go through it minutely, there are various noticeable flaws. So if you want to keep yourself updated on how to avoid phishing, think twice before clicking on a link.
Install an Anti-Phishing Toolbar
Anti-phishing toolbars are proven to be beneficial and significantly reduce phishing activities. Customization is possible in all popular browsers. These toolbars filter out suspicious links and alerts before they get to you. How to avoid phishing scams can have an excellent answer to it now is, by installing an extra layer of protection.
Verify a Site’s Security
It is fine to be skeptical about giving your financial information to others. If you access a secure and protected website, you got nothing to worry about. Just make sure that the website you are about to open begins with an “HTTPS” URL.
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Check Your Online Accounts Regularly
Make sure to check in with each of your online accounts on a regular basis. Make a habit of changing your passwords at regular intervals. In order to prevent bank phishing or credit card phishing scams, you must personally check your statements regularly.
Keep Your Browser Up to Date
Security patches for popular browsers are constantly being released. These are released in response to vulnerabilities that phishers and other hackers inevitably discover and exploit. Download and install the update as it becomes available.
Use Firewalls
A high-quality firewall acts as a buffer between users, computers, and external intruders. You need to use two different types of firewalls: desktop firewalls and network firewalls. The first option is some kind of software, and the second option is some kind of hardware. When used together, it greatly reduces the chances of hackers and phishers breaking into your computer or network.
Be Aware of Pop-ups
Pop-up windows can pose a threat to you as well. Since they impersonate a legitimate website which is why the viewer can easily get tricked. Pop-ups can be blocked in several browsers to avoid phishing scams.
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Never Give Out Personal Information
This is one of the most basic rules to never share any personal information or financially sensitive information over the internet. Make a habit to check the address of the website. Always a secure website will start with an “HTTPS” hyperlink.
Use Anti-Virus Software
Make sure your software is up to date. As new scams are constantly being invented, new definitions are constantly being added. Anti-spyware and firewall settings should be used to prevent phishing attacks, and users should update their programs on a regular basis. Antivirus software scans all files that enter your computer over the Internet. Helps prevent damage to the system.
Conclusion!
Once you go through all the potential ways how to prevent phishing emails, it is acceptable to say that GoDMARC provides the finest and most trusted tips to avoid phishing emails. Don’t make any compromises on your email security and just focus on the more important aspects of your business by handing us your security. Leave all your cybersecurity worries to GoDMARC so that you can tension-freely focus on more important aspects of your business. Check out our website to know more about GoDMARC pricing and get in touch to avail the best cybersecurity solutions now!
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. How can we avoid phishing scams?
Below mentioned four ways that are effective to protect you against phishing scams:
- Do not forget to install security software in your systems.
- By setting software to update, you can protect your cell phones from getting hacked.
- By using multi-factor authentication, you can effectively protect your accounts from fraud.
- Back up all your data from time to time to protect it.
Q2. What are the three elements to look at, for phishing scams?
- Check if the message is sent to you from a public domain.
- The mistake of domain name missplet is common in phishing activities.
- The email is poorly framed with lots of grammatical and spelling errors.
- Phishing emails generally include infected attachments.
