Falling for a phishing scam can cause substantial financial damage. The stakes are even higher if you are attacked at work, where hackers can access company financial information and client data. As a result, it’s a good idea to be familiar with phishing scams, how to avoid them, and how ANAX can help.

Most Common Types of Phishing Scams

There are various types of phishing scams that you should be aware of. Here are some of the most common ones:

Email Scam

Scammers use this method by impersonating a legitimate organization or company and sending emails to various unsuspecting companies. The emails are usually traps that include malicious links or an elaborate method for you to input your financial information. If hackers gain access to your system, not only can there be economic damage, but they can leak the information of clients and employees.

Business Email Scam

Hackers gain access to the email of a high-level executive, such as the CEO, and use their account to send emails to other workers in the company for monetary gain.

Whaling Scam

This scam targets specific executives in companies (usually C-level execs) to obtain information generally unavailable to lower-level employees. Falling for this type of scam can have substantial financial consequences and damage the reputation of your company.

Vishing Scam

Instead of using emails, scammers will use phone calls to exploit unsuspecting workers. Such scammers will usually claim to be from a large reputable company to lower your defenses before requesting your personal information.

What to Look Out For

There are certain checks you should make that could help you avoid falling for a phishing scam, including checking if:

  • The message is from a public email domain, such as Gmail or yahoo.
  • The email domain name is misspelled. Check if the email domain matches the company that they claim to be from.
  • The email is full of grammatical and structural errors.
  • The email contains questionable links or attachments.
  • The email urges you to act fast. This is usually the case for phishing emails that ask you to pay an invoice or make another payment.

Remember, never click on anything if you’re not sure where it’s from. A link could be malicious and give a hacker access to your computer or your organization’s system.

Stay Protected: Don’t Get Caught

You can always start by briefing your workers on phishing emails and the dangers that they pose. An educated workforce will be more effective at dealing with phishing attacks and potentially save you money in damages.

The best method to ensure that you and your company are protected is to consider employing a managed IT services provider to handle the technical side of your business. This type of service will monitor and detect phishing scams and help you deal with them effectively.

Check out our SMB guide to MFA for more information. A managed IT service provider will also ensure that you are up to date with the latest software and defense mechanisms to deal with any potential attacks. ANAX is up-to-date with the latest phishing scams and knows how to keep your business protected. Get in touch with us today! 

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