4 Email Phishing Scams to Avoid

4 Email Phishing Scams to Avoid

Before you go wading into all your unread emails from over the holidays, it’s a good idea to brush up on phishing email scams, which can lead to financial loss, compromised accounts, identity theft, ransomware infection and insecure data.

Before you go wading into all your unread emails from over the holidays, it’s a good idea to brush up on phishing email scams, which can lead to financial loss, compromised accounts, identity theft, ransomware infection and insecure data. Phishing has been around a long time, but as technology and cybersecurity evolve, so do scammers and their phishing techniques. Here are four types of phishing emails to be wary of and tips to avoid being a victim of phishing.

Deceptive Phishing: Deceptive phishing is the most common type of phishing scam, in which scammers carefully impersonate or “spoof” a real company’s correspondence and attempt to steal users’ personal information or login credentials. These emails frequently use urgent-sounding language to startle users into following through on their directive, often related to resolving a “problem” with an account. Deceptive phishing emails not only spoof legitimate companies to target users, they often direct the victim to resolve the imaginary account issue by clicking through and logging into a matching spoofed website, allowing the phisher to collect their personal information and account login information. Deceptive phishing attacks can imitate companies such as PayPal, internet service providers, banks or credit card companies.

Cloud Storage Phishing: Scammers are now basing many attacks off of Cloud storage services such as Dropbox or Google Drive. This kind of phishing scam usually involves a realistic-looking spoofed email claiming to come from a Cloud storage service and requesting the user to click through to secure an account or download and view a shared document. When the user clicks through, they’re directed to a spoofed login page that harvests the user’s account credentials for the phisher.

IRS Phishing: A more recent type of phishing attack is IRS-related phishing, in which criminals disguise a phishing email to employees in human resources or payroll departments so that it appears to come from a company executive. Phishers do this to request information such as employees’ W-2 data or even social security numbers from companies. These phishing scams are particularly dangerous because the Form W-2 contains an employee’s name, address, Social Security number, income and withholdings, all of which compromises personal identity and data security and can be used to file fraudulent tax returns or even be sold on the Dark Net.

Spear Phishing: Spear phishing is a more personalized type of email scam, in which fraudsters may gather information on a victim over time via social media like LinkedIn, through data breaches or simply by gathering intel via some kind of hack. They then use this information to lend credibility to their phishing email for a specific target. Spear phishing attacks are called such because instead of casting a wider, indiscriminate net, they specifically target high-value victims—even top executives. In “whaling” attacks, the goal is to target executives to steal their login credentials, after which a scammer can conduct CEO fraud by impersonating the victim and abusing their credentials to authorize fraudulent wire transfers.

How to Avoid Being Phished

  • Examine emails closely for inaccuracies or inconsistencies in greetings, headers, signatures or email addresses. If things seem off, it’s a good sign to not trust the sender.
  • Don’t give out personal, company or financial information via email and don’t respond to email solicitations for this information or follow links in these emails.
  • Pay attention to the URL of a website—malicious or phishing websites may replicate a legitimate site well but their URL may use a variation in spelling or a different website domain.
  • Don’t open or download email attachments from senders you don’t recognize—again, check the sender’s email address to verify that the spelling and domain are consistent with who they say they are. Because of the possibility of real but hacked email accounts, you should never download suspicious-looking email attachments from people you DO know.
  • Use two-factor verification on accounts where possible.
  • Install and maintain antivirus software, firewalls and email spam filters to reduce the likelihood of phishing attacks coming through.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.