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I occasionally investigate account hacks or take-overs. This is one of those situations where an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. 

The majority of accounts, social media or bank accounts, are hacked because the user unwittingly gave the hacker all the information they needed: their username and password. The most common method of doing this is through a phishing (pronounced: “”fishing””) scam.

The target gets an unsolicited email from what looks like a legitimate source (bank, Facebook, etc). The email may say, “”We have found possible fraudulent activity on your bank account. Sign in to verify your purchases.”” The panicked target will click on the link or button provided in the email. They are taken to a website that also looks legitimate. They enter their username and password and press “”enter.”” The target has just entered their log-in information into a shell site, and their username and password was sent to the hacker who is now quickly logging into the target’s account and taking their money. 

These two screen shots are examples of phishing emails. One is for Paypal and the other is for Facebook. How can we tell if an email is legitimate or not? Have a close look at these emails and then below we will explore the tell-tale signs of a phishing scam.

How we can tell if we are the target of a phishing scam:

1. Always regard unsolicited emails that request your personal information with skepticism.