Happy Holidays and PSA: Lookout for Fake But Legitimate Looking Emails
Dec 01, 2024
Happy Holidays!
If you are preparing to have a nice roast ham, you might find that you are getting spam instead. While the holidays often mean an increase in the spirit of generosity, they also tend to come with a rise in bad actors trying to take advantage of said generosity or lowered security consciousness.
One such way that these bad actors will attempt to scam people out of money, credentials, and other similar things is to get them to click on a link in an email that LOOKS like it's from a trusted source.
There has been a rise in fake emails made to look like they are from Microsoft, PayPal, Docusign, and other similar platforms where the bad actors are using greater resources and time to try to make these emails look legitimate.
Here are a few ways to be safer when interacting with emails that LOOK legitimate but may not be:
- VERIFY THE SENDER EMAIL AND THAT THE EMAIL MAKES SENSE. If you aren't expecting a payment or a contract, for example, DON'T interact with the email.
- DO NOT TRUST a phone number in any suspect email. Many scams try to get you on a phone call.
- DON'T CLICK ON THINGS IN SUSPECT EMAILS. Buttons and links can take you to dangerous websites and even download things to infect your computer.
- IF AN EMAIL TAKES YOU TO A LOGIN PAGE, BE WARY. Credential theft is their goal! Make sure it's a real login page and if you aren't sure, don't login.
Stay safe these holidays and avoid scams!
