Phishing emails are the number one way attackers penetrate their victim’s defenses. Here’s some quick info on how to spot the red flags of a phishing email and how to validate it.
- The email has poor grammar, and words are misspelled or misused.
- The email has unusual visual spacing of words, sentences, or paragraphs.
- You don’t know the sender, or you don’t have any kind of relationship with the company the email claims to be from.
- The email claims to be URGENT!!!
- There are links you must follow or documents you must open to resolve the urgent situation.
- You won a lottery you never entered.
- THERE’S A LOT OF CAPITALIZED LETTERS IN THE EMAIL, as if they are shouting at you.
- The email claims your password is expiring, but says you can keep your existing password.
- If the email claims to be from someone you know, but something seems odd, contact the other person by another means (phone call, face to face, etc.). DON’T just reply to the email, this is what the attacker is hoping for…
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