Cybercrime is a very lucrative endeavor for internet con artists, making Email attacks prevalent across the internet. These various Email scams are used to steal your money, by either tricking you into providing your banking information, stealing your identity, or infecting your computer with spyware to steal the personal information needed to access your money. Business Email Compromises (BEC) are one of the primary ways criminals penetrate organizations to steal their data.
As your expert on cybersecurity in Pittsburgh, CMIT Solutions has put together some tips on how you can avoid the most common email scams to keep your information safe.
Survey Scams
A survey scam is an email scam that will send you a survey based on your interests, such as social issues like global warming. This may tempt you to take the survey, but unless you specifically requested to be on a mailing list, the survey you just received may the beginning of an elaborate scheme to compromise your business email and steal your data.Clicking on the survey can lead to malicious malware or spyware being installed on your computer. Once this has been installed, cybercriminals can see every move you make on your computer, allowing them to steal your bank account information, passwords, and more. This can lead to identity theft, negatively effect on your life, and your business.
Online Credit Card, Banking or PayPal Scam
You see an email from your bank or from PayPal saying “Act now, or your account will be deactivated,” or “Security breach on your account,” and your knee-jerk reaction may be to immediately open the email and click the link provided and log into your account to resolve the issue.
The problem is that this email is not actually from or bank or from PayPal, rather it is from a website designed to look like PayPal or your bank’s website to trick you into giving a cybercriminal your login information so they can steal your money. They may also be able to use this login information to scam your business associates and your friends. Follow these tips to identify a PayPal scam email:
- They don’t include your name. A legitimate credit card company or PayPal will have your first name on file and would use it in any correspondence they send to you. If you are addressed as a “valued customer” or some version of that rather than your first name, it is likely to be a scam.
- The email address is suspicious. Don’t let an email such as “PayPal Customer Care Center” fool you. If you see an email address such as “customer-care-paypal-center@paypal.org, this is a sure sign that you are being scammed. Keep in mind, a company like PayPal will only send customers emails with an address ending in @paypal.com.
- The email is threatening. The email may tell you that your account will be suspended or closed if you do not immediately respond to the message and log into your account. It’s important to remember that a legitimate company will not threaten to close or suspend your account if you ignore an email.
- The links included are suspicious. Before you click on any links in the email, hover over them and see what type of URL appears. If the URL is not taking you to your bank’s website or PayPal.com, then avoid clicking on it.
Foreign Lottery Email Scam
We all dream of winning the lottery, but don’t let that desire entangle you in a trap. A common email scam is the foreign lottery scam where you receive an email that appears to come from a foreign lottery corporation. In the subject line you will typically see some type of congratulatory announcement and in some cases the amount of money you supposedly won. Follow these tips to identify the foreign lottery scam:
- Your name is not used in the To field of the email. If the email is not personalized to contain your name, then it is like this email has been sent to thousands of other people.
- The sender is an individual. If the sender is a person or is obviously not an official lottery email, it is sure to be a scam. If, for example, your lottery email comes from bobsmith9234@gmail.com, he is definitely not the person that would be telling you that you’ve hit the lottery for several million dollars.
- You can’t find the lottery online. With a simple Google search, you can determine if the lottery exists or not. During your search, you may find that not only is the lottery fake but that it is a scam based on other peoples’ experiences.
- They ask for information. Typically, scammer emails, including lottery scams, ask you for your date of birth, full name, street address, and your telephone number. This is a phishing scam that is designed to get you to give away personal information that they can use to steal your identity or drain your bank account.
Don’t Become a Victim of Cybercrime, Call CMIT Solutions today!
In addition to educating your employees about email scams, you should also have cybersecurity measures in place to keep your business safe. At CMIT Solutions, we provide expert cybersecurity solutions to Pittsburgh businesses to keep their data safe. From security assessments to remediation, and continued security management, our comprehensive services will protect your business. Contact us today to learn more!