Brian Kinsella, Senior Regional Fraud Manager at Elavon Europe, tells us what phishing is, how the social engineering technique works, and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim.
Phishing scams are nothing new, but they have come a long way since the days of emails announcing you have inherited millions from a royal benefactor. What started out as glaringly obvious scams have now become layered and sophisticated, with even the most astute person left questioning the validity.
The aim of phishing is to lull you into a false sense of security and to catch you with your guard down. It might be a text asking for payment for customs fees, an email from a social media site asking you to click on a link to view a new friend request, or it might be a phone call from a streaming service stating you have paid for an annual subscription to their service.
They are bogus but designed to look convincing, resulting in more and more people falling victim.
Sometimes this type of cybercrime is known as social engineering and you might hear the term smishing for phishing attacks that come by text message – a mash-up of SMS and phishing – and vishing, or voice phishing, for those that are over the phone.
Whatever the method of attack, ultimately, the fraudster wants you to respond to the request and provide personal data, like log in details or payment details that can be used to commit fraud elsewhere. With these details, the fraudster can make payments on your credit cards or apply for financial services like loans, bank accounts or cards in your name.
We’ve seen a recent increase in businesses being targeted in phishing attacks so here are some tips to help reduce the chances of being a victim of phishing:
