{"id":23176,"date":"2021-10-18T11:52:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T19:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/?p=23176"},"modified":"2022-04-13T12:22:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:22:03","slug":"how-to-stop-spam-and-phishing-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/how-to-stop-spam-and-phishing-emails\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Protect Yourself from Phishing Emails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A quick note from Spokeo CEO Harrison Tang (10\/18\/21): \u201cWe are aware of scammers posing as Spokeo by sending suspicious emails addresses asking for user information. This is a fake email \u2013 we did not send these type of phishing emails to anyone.\u00a0 Please always double-check the sender\u2019s info before clicking on any link in the email.\u00a0 When in doubt, please\u00a0contact us<\/a>\u00a0at any time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a human in the 21st century, unwanted emails are a common nuisance.\u00a0 Your credit card might invite you to transfer funds, or your favorite store might announce a sale \u2014 but are these emails just annoying, or are they harmful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scammers are constantly getting better at using fake emails to mimic legitimate companies and collect your personal information.  At first glance, these phishing emails might look like the real thing.  Read on to learn how to safely identify and block these emails to protect your information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Phishing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Phishing refers to a type of email scam that solicits personal information, often to gain access to bank accounts or credit cards.  Online crimes like phishing cost Americans $2.7 billion in 2018<\/a>, almost double the amount lost to internet scams in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spotting a Malicious Message<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Phishing emails usually impersonate a company<\/a> or individual you already interact with, like a financial institution, social media site or online store.  Learn how to check an email\u2019s legitimacy before handing over valuable personal details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Email Solicits Your Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Phishing emails usually claim that your account has a problem and ask you to provide personal information.  The email might claim suspicious activity or attempts to log in, cite problems with payment information or offer a coupon or deal. It will usually ask you to click on a link and provide information, which puts you at risk for an attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never<\/em> click on links in suspicious emails.  Instead, access your account directly. For example, the email shown below claims that the account is locked.  A user could identify the email as phishing if they can successfully log into their account as usual.  You can also run a Google search with the company\u2019s name and the word \u201cphishing\u201d to see if others have reported similar attacks, like this Disney+ scam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Other Visual Clues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some phishing emails might have typos and generic greetings<\/a>, which indicate that the email is a scam.  But more sophisticated attacks are able to make the email really look legitimate.  Looking closely will raise some red flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Disney+ example, the email address in the \u201cReply-To\u201d field is suspicious.  To check this out, search the rest of your inbox for legitimate emails from Disney+, like when you first registered for the service.  You might notice that these messages come from disneyplus@mail.disneyplus.com.  The email address in this message doesn\u2019t match at all \u2014 the different domain name \u201cdisneyaccount.com\u201d is a clear clue that this email is malicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also run a search on Spokeo<\/a> to verify any email address you aren\u2019t sure about.  Pay attention to context and unusual activity as well.  If a friend or family member is hacked, they could unknowingly send you malicious emails from their real email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Stop Spam Emails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you recognize an email as spam, there are several actions you can take to help prevent future phishing attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting Spam vs. Phishing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, report the specific message as phishing through your email provider.  For example, Gmail now has a \u201cReport phishing\u201d<\/a> function in addition to \u201cReport spam.\u201d  Make sure malicious messages are flagged as phishing specifically, not spam, so they are reported as dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also report phishing to the US government<\/a> and separately contact the company being impersonated.  But don\u2019t contact the company through the phishing email.  Instead, use your typical method of contacting the company, like calling a customer-service number listed on their website, to report the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inbox Security Measures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In your email provider\u2019s settings, you can configure your inbox to customize how you want spam and phishing emails handled.  In Outlook, for example, you can increase the protection level<\/a> to filter more messages directly into a junk folder.  You can also block specific email senders in Outlook<\/a>, Gmail<\/a> and other email providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond spam filters, you can install more security features to protect your inbox.  Gmail has a Sender Icons plug-in<\/a> to verify whether the email address is really from a particular company.  You should also regularly review the plug-ins attached to your inbox and remove any you don\u2019t recognize or need, as they may be letting in unwanted and potentially dangerous emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Security Measures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For additional layers of protection, make sure you always update to the latest version of software<\/a> on your computer, phone and tablet.  Even better \u2014 configure your settings to install new versions automatically.  You should always have security software on your computer and keep that updated as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you are using a secure password<\/a> for all your accounts.  Also, whenever possible, consider using multi-factor authentication<\/a> to make it more difficult for hackers to break into your accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Kinds of Spam<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Email isn\u2019t the only way scammers can get your personal information.  Watch out for smishing, which is spam messages sent over text message<\/a>.  When in doubt, delete the message and block the sender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katrina Ballard is a communications manager in Washington, DC. She holds a master\u2019s degree in public administration and has written extensively on technology, business and more.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n