Have you ever received an email that appeared to be from a trusted company, but something was a bit strange? At Macinhome, we’ve seen more and more fraudulent emails lately which attempt to steal our personal information.
When fraudsters send fake emails, they often link to fake websites that mimic the real sign-in pages of trusted companies (eg. Apple, PayPal, or RBC). These sites try to trick you into disclosing your user name and password. This practice is called “phishing” because the fraudster is fishing for your private account info.
With your information, fraudsters can commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, read your email, or lock you out of your online accounts by changing your password.
If you think that your online security may be compromised, please call us for a security audit.
If you suspect that an email you received may be “phishing” for your info, check it using our 3-question test.
1. Check for a generic greeting.
If the email isn’t addressed to you, it may be fraudulent. Watch out for generic greetings such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Member”.
2. Check the sender’s email address.
Often the sender’s email name or address will resemble a company’s official address, but not be identical. Watch out for similar-looking address like “apple@store.com” or “support@applestore.xyz”, for example.
In Apple Mail, click the ⌵ next to the sender’s name to reveal a menu with the sender’s email address at the top.
Verify that the sender’s name and email match and that they are from the company or source you are expecting.
3. Check for links in the email.
Phishing emails will try to lure you to a website disguised as a trusted company’s sign-in page hoping that you will type in your info. Before you click on any links, examine the link’s website address (URL).
By putting your cursor over the blue link text, you can “hover” there for a moment to reveal the actual URL below.
Most of the time, companies will only link to their website. In the example above from “Apple”, we’d expect the URL to be “http://something.apple.com” or “http://www.apple.com/something”.
Following these steps to check for fraudulent “phishing” emails will help to keep you safe online.
If you have any questions, let us know! For more tips, check out our blog.
