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Did You Receive a Suspicious Email? Here’s the Ultimate Guide to Stop Phishing Attacks.
The Swiss Competition Commission (Weko) recently warned customers about fake emails sent by scammers. These emails look real but are designed to steal your information. This type of scam is called phishing. Scammers pretend to be a person or company you trust to trick you into giving them sensitive data, like passwords or credit card numbers. In the Weko case, hackers got into two employee email accounts and sent phishing messages from there.
How the Phishing Scam Works
A person reported receiving a strange email that looked like it was from Weko, an office furniture company. The email appeared to be from a project manager and talked about kitchen planning documents. It was designed to make the recipient curious enough to click a link.
- The Fake Link: The email had a link that seemed to go to a planning document. The link led to a page that looked like a secure place to view a file.
- The Trap: On this page, there was a button that said, “Sign In with Microsoft to Access”. This was the trap.
- Stealing Your Information: If someone clicked this button and entered their Microsoft email and password, the scammers would steal it. With this information, they could access the person’s private files, emails, and contacts.
How to Spot a Phishing Email
You can protect yourself by learning to spot the signs of a phishing email. Legitimate companies will not ask for sensitive information like passwords through email.
- Check the Sender: Always look closely at the sender’s email address. Scammers often use addresses that are slightly misspelled or look unofficial. You can hover your mouse over the sender’s name to see the full email address.
- Look for Urgency: Phishing emails often try to make you feel panicked. They might say your account will be closed or you’ll lose money if you don’t act immediately.
- Be Wary of Attachments: Be careful with unexpected attachments, even if they seem to be from a known company. A real company will usually direct you to its own website to download files securely.
- Generic Greetings: Many phishing emails use generic greetings like “Dear Customer” instead of your real name.
- Spelling and Grammar Mistakes: Emails from real companies are usually well-written. Errors in spelling or grammar can be a red flag.
What to Do If You Click a Phishing Link
If you think you have clicked on a phishing link, you need to act quickly to protect yourself.
- Disconnect from the Internet. The first step is to disconnect your device from the internet to prevent any malware from spreading to other devices on your network. You can do this by unplugging the ethernet cable or turning off your Wi-Fi.
- Back Up Your Files. If you have recent backups of your important files, you can restore them if they get damaged or deleted by malware.
- Scan for Malware. Use your antivirus software to run a full scan of your device. This will help find and remove any malicious software that may have been installed.
- Change Your Passwords. If you entered your login information on the fake website, change your password for that account immediately. It is also a good idea to change the passwords for any other accounts that use the same or a similar password.
- Report the Incident. You can report the phishing attempt to organizations like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help them track and stop scammers. You should also inform your IT department if the incident is work-related.