How to Identify Phishing Scams?

Scammers use text messages or email to trick you into providing them your personal details. However, there are several things you can do to protect yourself against cybercriminals.

How To Identify Phishing

Scammers use text messages or emails to trick you to giving out your personal information. They may attempt to steal crucial passwords, Social Security numbers, or account numbers. In case they obtain those details, they can get access to your bank, email, or other important accounts. Scammers launch countless phishing attacks such as these on a daily basis and in most cases, they are successful. A report from the FBI’sInternet Crime Complaint Center said that people have lost $57 million to phishing scams in a single year.

Scammers tend to update their methods however, there are signs that can help you identify if it is a phishing text message or email.

Phishing textmessages and emails may appear like they are from a firm that you know and trust. They may appear like they are from a credit card company, a bank, a social networking site, an online store, an app, or even an online payment website.

Phishing text messages and emails often tell a story so that you can be tricked into opening an attachment or clicking a link. They may do the following:

1.    Say that they noticed suspicious log in attempts or activities.

2.    Claim that there is an issue with your payment information or your account.

3.    Say that you should confirm some of your personal details.

4.    Include a fake invoice.

5.    Want you to make a payment by clicking on a link.

6.    Say that you are eligible to register for a refund from the government.

7.    Offer a coupon that you can use to claim free items.

At first look, the email or text message appear like it is real, it is not, actually. The scammers who send these emails are not connected to the real company that they pretend to be. Phishing emails could have consequences for individuals who provide their information to these scammers unknowingly. And they could harm the reputation of the businesses that they are spoofing.

Protect Yourself From Phishing Attacks

Your email spam filter an keep several phishing emails out of your inbox. However, scammers will always try to outsmart these spam filters. Therefore, it is a good idea to add more layers of protection. Here are some tips that can help you protect yourself.

1.    Use a computer software and make sure to update it automatically so it could deal with all security threats.

2.    Set up a software on your mobile phone and set it to update automatically. This will provide critical protection against various security threats.

3.    Use multi factor authentication as it offers extra security. It will need at least two credentials to log in to your personal account.

4.    Back your data regularly. But you need to make sure that these backups are not connected to your home network. You can store it in a cloud storage or in an external hard drive.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to protect your business against phishing attacks.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro

New Ransomware Looks Like An Anti-Virus Installation

Dharma is a highly successful ransomware strain.

It recently has been made even more successful by a change in the way the hackers controlling it are deploying it.

The first part of their latest campaign remains unchanged.  They rely on well-crafted phishing emails to lure employees in.

The key difference, however, lies in the particulars of the newly crafted emails.

In a nutshell, the group has begun imploring email recipients to protect their systems by installing the latest antivirus software.  The emails include a helpful link to the antivirus, which of course doesn't point to antivirus software at all. Rather, it is the ransomware they're trying to deploy inside corporate networks.

Worst of all, the emails claim to be from Microsoft, one of the biggest, most recognizable and most trusted names in the industry. So, there's a good chance that at least one of your employees will take the bait. In a bid to be good, proactive employees, they will seek to install what they think is antivirus software.

Once they start the installation, the damage is done.  It will lock every file on the victim's system, demand ransom, and seek to spread itself to as many other systems inside your network as it can reach.

Raphael Centeno, a security researcher at Trend Micro had this to say about the new twist on the malware strain:

"As proven by the new samples of Dharma, many malicious actors are still trying to upgrade old threats and use new techniques.  Ransomware remains a costly and versatile threat."
As ever, the best way to guard against this type of threat starts with employee education.  Employees should not be in the habit of installing their own antivirus software in the first place, so a gentle reminder to that effect should go a long way toward limiting the threat, but it still pays to be very much on your guard.

Secure your email and your system with the help of an expert IT consultant from SpartanTec, Inc.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
https://spartantecwilmington.business.site