Phishing scams are very common. One of the reasons why they are so common is because of how reliant we are on the digital world. Therefore, people take advantage of this and try to scam you, making you a victim of a phishing attack.
Although you and your company may be aware of the standard phishing techniques, there are plenty out there that you could be unaware of. Additionally, employee phishing scams are increasing and becoming more sophisticated. Let’s look at some of the phishing scams that you and your company may be unaware of.
Fake Invoices
Starting with one of the most common phishing methods, the fake invoice. This scam is common because they get you to believe you have an overdue payment. The panic can then set in, causing you to pay it off in case you have missed a payment. Basically, this scamming technique pressures you into giving them a payment that doesn’t exist.
Usually, the finance department inside the company will be targeted with this. Nonetheless, there are people inside the company who could receive this fake invoice. Therefore, you need to make your colleagues aware of this phishing technique.
Email Upgrade Scams
Another common method is email upgrade scams. It is when they warn you that your email account could expire unless you respond to their email or click on their link. Usually, these email scams will try to impersonate that they are Gmail, Outlook or other trustworthy email providers.
With these emails, they will look very legitimate. That is why it is difficult to recognise it as a phishing attempt. Nonetheless, there is one thing you can do to check to see if it is legit. Hover your cursor over the link to view the URL for this text. It will show its true destination and the area it is telling you in the email.
Email scams can target anyone. That is why you must be careful when reading these emails and not click on every link you get sent.
Advance-Fee Scams
Next on the list is an advanced fee scam. It may be a phishing attempt you are aware of because they are more common. It will usually involve someone from overseas providing you with an elaborate story to receive money from you. It is one of the oldest phishing attempts known to the digital world and still works against many people today. Avoid this scam at all costs and do not provide anybody with your bank account details if you do not know them.
The Google Docs Scam
Something that modern businesses have started to rely on more is Google Docs. Scammers are now recognising this and creating Google Doc scams. It is where the scammer will pretend to be someone you know. This attempt is very sophisticated and again, easy to fall for if you are unaware of this technique.
They will ask you to view a fake document that will take you to a Gmail login page which is almost impossible to differentiate from the actual login page. Once you have selected and signed in to your account, you will be asked to give access. Once you have done that, the scammer will then have access to your account.
If you work in a company that uses Google Docs, you must let employees know about this scam as it is easy to fall for. The last thing you want is for a scammer to have access to one of your company accounts.
PayPal Scams
Finally, we have Paypal scams and this is another phishing attempt. The reason why is that PayPal has over 400 million users. It is a gold mine for a scammer, especially for those unaware of PayPal scams.
The email you would usually receive from PayPal will consist of the official logo. It will also have a small print at the bottom of the email, just like a PayPal email has. It is one of those scams that try to cause the recipient to panic.
To Conclude
Whether you are an individual that works inside a company or you own a business yourself. It is important to be aware of all the types of phishing techniques that you and your colleagues can fall for. A business cyber security team could also help reduce the number of attacks that are launched on your business. This team can not only prevent the number of phishing attempts on your company but can also respond to an attack if one occurs.