What is Phishing?

An introduction on phishing: what to look out for and what to do when faced with a phishing attempt.

Video by Topic Simple: http://www.topicsimple.com

Script:

OK, let’s talk about phishing…

Phishing is a kind of online scam. You know: you are contacted by a person or ‘company’ – often through email – regarding something ‘important’. You click on a link and are then asked to give away valuable information like a password or bank account number.

But nobody ever falls for this right?

Wrong.

If phishing scams didn’t work they wouldn’t exist. But… How come they work so well?

One: We love to click and the Internet was made for clicking. It’s that simple.

Two: Our ‘smart’ brain loves to take shortcuts and predict things. Phishing scams use look-alike web and email addresses that are spelled wrong and we still get fooled!

Three: We are hard-wired to respond to emotions - curiosity, trust, fear, desire, generosity.

Four: Urgency; phishing scams always prompt us to act fast.

What do these four points all have in common?

They can cause an automatic reaction bypassing our critical thinking.

Time to put phishing scams under the microscope:

Favorite channels: Email, phone call, sms.

Common traits: unexpected; asking to bypass a usual process; trying to trigger an emotion.

Most efficient when: we are tired, stressed, or conversely very happy! Believe it or not we are more likely to be fooled right before a vacation or after receiving really good news.

If faced with what could be a phishing attempt, STOP… then look at it again more closely for details. Do a ‘double verification’ – by searching online for information on the company that has contacted you, or telephoning the person that has just emailed you.

With this knowledge now you are more prepared to escape phishing!