Phishing emails are what a scammer uses to trick you into giving up your personal and/or financial information.
Scammers these days are getting really good at it as they are keeping up with the latest news and trends which makes it difficult to discern between good and bad emails. The Federal Trade Commission offers the following:
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might:
- say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
- claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
- say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
- include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
- want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
- say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
- offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real
So, what can you do to protect yourself?
Be leery of any email that is asking you for information.
- Protect your computer with antivirus and make sure it is running and up to date.
- Protect your mobile phone by keeping it up to date or, settings updates to automatic.
- Protect your accounts by using MFA (multi-factor authentication)
- Protect your data by backing it up.
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