What is phishing?

The best way to protect yourself is being able to identify phishing right away

Phishing is the practice of sending fake information while pretending to be a reliable source to obtain a person or business’ private information. It’s often done through email. While your junk folder catches some phishing emails, it may not direct all of them away from your main inbox. The goal of these emails is to get sensitive information like your credit card or passwords. Some phishing scams also try to install malware on your computer. This is why it’s always important to use caution when opening emails or links from unknown sources.

Common types of phishing

Spear phishing targets a specific group or individual, rather than a large number of people. This way they can customize the message to something that would interest or scare their target.
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Whaling is when scammers go after a high-profile victim like a celebrity or CEO of a company. This kind of phishing often takes time to plan and scammers will wait until just the right moment to get access to this person’s information.

Social media phishing is done through direct messages or public posts. If a scammer gets their target’s login information, they can use that account to impersonate a person or business.

Voice phishing, or spam calls, is done via phone call. These calls can be operated by a machine or a real person, and often use fear to convince people to forfeit their information.

Pullout: Phishing calls or emails are constantly evolving and becoming more difficult to spot. They often pretend to be from big companies like Microsoft, Apple, Canada Revenue Agency or the Department of Justice. They may also pretend to be more localized companies like your phone or electricity company.

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Dangers of phishing

Nearly everyone who has a phone or computer will be the victim of a phishing attack, and they can lead to serious consequences.

Phishing scams are after your most private information, like your credit card or social insurance numbers, your login information or other personal data. For individuals, falling victim to one of these scams can mean losing money, having fraudulent charges on your credit card, losing access to online files or accounts or identity theft. For businesses, their corporate funds, public reputation, personal information of employees and customers and other confidential information are all at risk.

How to protect your business

Phishing scams will only continue to increase and get more sophisticated. Here are some ways to protect yourself and spot scams right away:

Change your passwords regularly and store them in a secure place.
Don’t share your passwords or personal information with other people, especially not through online channels.
Don’t open emails or answer calls from unknown users. If you’re worried about accidentally ignoring an important message, you can search the email address or phone number to see if it’s legitimate.
If you get a suspicious email or phone call at work, report it to your supervisor or IT department.
Don’t click on pop-up windows or unknown links.
Educate yourself and your employees on the common situations and emotions scammers use to trick people.
Keep up with the latest phishing trends.

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