Plenty of Phish to Phry
In the vast ocean of the internet, a lurking danger—phishing—casts a wide net, attempting to catch unsuspecting individuals in its deceitful traps.
A staggering $8.8 BILLION is siphoned from the global economy annually due to varied forms of fraud. With technological advancements, this number will likely increase in the coming years.
Phishing, the deceptive practice of masquerading as a trustworthy entity to acquire sensitive information, costs over $17,000 per minute to organizations and individuals alike. It may surprise you that half of recipients unknowingly click on malicious links within the first 60 minutes of a phishing email landing in their inbox.
In our partnership, safeguarding your financial assets extends beyond prudent investment advice. Staying vigilant about potential threats like phishing and ensuring your hard-earned assets remain securely in your possession is paramount to us.
As a financial advisor, I’m committed to your financial security, so I’ve gathered a few tips for you to help detect phishing attempts in your inbox:
- Sender’s Email Address: Verify the sender’s email address, especially if the content seems suspicious. Phishers can craft emails to look like they’re from reputable companies, but the email address might be slightly off (e.g., support@google-support.com instead of the legitimate support@google.com).
- Generic Greetings: Phishing emails often start with vague greetings like “Dear user” or “Dear [Company Name] member.” Legitimate organizations often personalize their emails.
- Urgent or Threatening Language: Many phishing attempts try to instill a sense of urgency or threat to the user. For example, they might say, “your account will be closed if you don’t respond immediately” or “unauthorized login attempt detected.”
- Request for Personal Information: Legitimate companies usually don’t ask for personal or financial information via email. If in doubt, contact the company directly using a verified phone number or email, not the contact details provided in the suspect email.
Intrigued about the other strategies to protect your finances and keep more of your money in your pocket?
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