Phishing Scams to avoid in 2020
Phishing scams have grown as technology has gotten more popular over the years. In fact, phishing scams affect millions of people each year in the United States online. Phishing is the attempt to steal, take, or obtain private or sensitive information fraudulently. This guide will show some of the more popular phishing scams that happened in 2018 and that are carrying over to 2020.
Chase Fraud Email
This phishing scam specifically targets its victims via text messages and emails. It is a bogus message that looks like it is coming from the national bank itself and it asks customers to update passwords and view personal information. Once personal information is discovered these bad guys can then get into your computer and more.
When doing so the victim’s data flows to a criminal third party. Chase wants everyone to know that it will never ask for confidential information such as passwords, usernames, or pins via text or email.
Netflix Scam Email
The scam starts in the way of a very authentic-looking email that states Netflix is having a hard time billing you. The email then proceeds to ask if you can update your payment details by clicking on a link. By all means, do follow this link.
This is the part where the Phishing scam tries to steal your information. Netflix has confirmed that these are not coming from them. Any emails that do come from Netflix will come from this email address: Info@mail.netflix.com.
Paypal Scam Email
The PayPal scam email comes via email. According to PayPal the goal of these emails like all Phishing scams is to fish for personal information from the users. The emails may even ask you to call a number or click on a link.
There are ways to spot a fake email. Look out for the following if you receive an email from PayPal and believe it fake.
Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first and last name or business name. If you receive an email sating it’s from PayPal and it starts off with a generic greeting like Dear user or Dear this would be a phishing attempt.
Never open attachments that are unknown, they could easily have viruses or malware attached to them. If you feel like you have a Phishing email that was sent with PayPal as the scam send them to the below email and PayPal will look into them.
Forward suspicious emails to spoof@paypal.com
Apple ID Scam
Apple ID scams are very popular and if you own an Apple device there is a good chance you have gotten a Phishing scam email pretending to be from Apple. The below are some top tips to spot a fake email Phishing scams.
- The email address and or phone number is not the same as you have the company.
- Sender’s email address or phone number is not matching the company name that it says it is from.
- Link looks legitimate. Here is a tip. Hover over the link but DO NOT click on it. If you hover over the link you should be able to see the full patch of the link does it match apple website? Most likely it doesn’t and takes you to a website that doesn’t match the address of the company.
- The message starts with a generic greeting like a dear customer. Most larger companies will always use a first and last name.
- The email requests that you provide personal data like credit card info and passwords.
Keep your personal information safe
Be sure to follow the above rules for not just those phishing scams that buy any emails and text you’re unsure of. It is not uncommon to get tricked by some emails as some look very real. If you feel like you may have given criminals your sensitive information or someone on the dark web then you should monitor your personal information. Sites like Experian allow users to monitor there credit scores and more.
