We have seen a rise in the number of emails being received by our clients and our team that are suspected of being phishing attempts, so here is a short list of ways to protect yourself. Doing a Google search will bring up much more information and many other things you can do, but this list will get you started.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is defined as the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, and passwords by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
How does it work?
The most common method is for someone to send an email that appears to be from a legitimate source, with a link to a website asking the recipient to log in and perform some action. Both the emails and websites look very convincing, sometimes appearing identical to their real counterparts.
Once the user “logs in” to the fake site, the username, password, or other information has been compromised and can be used for malicious purposes.
How can I protect myself?
It is possible for just about anyone to be tricked by a phishing attempt, but by using a few simple checks, you can avoid many of them up front:
- Trust your spam filter. They are not 100% effective but will flag or block most emails that fall into a suspicious category.
- Check links in emails. If you hover the cursor over a URL, it often displays the actual website it will send you to. Make sure it’s what you think it should be.
- If you do click a link from an email, check the address bar to make sure you’re where you are supposed to be. Sometimes only one character is different in the URL, making it hard to spot.
- Use your best judgment. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t trust it. Remember, you can always contact the company directly, or visit their website directly to do the same thing, so confirm the situation first if you aren’t sure.
Ask Savvy Search Marketing
If you are one of our clients and you receive an email you’re unsure of that has anything to do with us or one of our related services (PPC campaigns, hosting, website, Google Analytics, reporting, etc), please forward it to us and we will help you verify whether it is legitimate or not.
