Phishing; recognizing and preventing it

Research by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) shows that 68% of Dutch people aged 15 or older will have experienced phishing at least once in 2021. This ranges from a phone call, email or other message that (probably) came from a scammer. Two percent report having fallen for this. So how can you recognize phishing and what can you do to prevent phishing?

What is phishing again?

Phishing is a form of cybercrime in which criminals pretend to be a trustworthy organization. Think of a bank, credit card company, a government agency, etc. These criminals aim to steal personal information from an unsuspecting victim! They do this by using various phishing techniques: fake emails, fake websites or social engineering techniques. All to trick the user into sharing sensitive information.

How do you recognize phishing?

To ultimately prevent phishing, you must first know what to look for. There are several ways to recognize phishing. We list below a few ways that are particularly focused on recognizing phishing via e-mail.

• The sender
  First, it is important to check the sender of an e-mail. If the sender is unknown or does not match the company or organization claiming to have sent the e-mail, it is better not to open the e-mail. There is a good chance that it is phishing.
• The content
  Besides the sender of an e-mail, the content of an e-mail message is an important indicator for recognizing phishing. Phishing messages often contain spelling errors. We also often see that messages are communicated in poor English or poor Dutch. In addition, a phishing message can be recognized by outdated company logos.
• The link
  We stay with the content of a phishing email for a moment. Phishing mails are characterized by the inclusion of one or more links. The sender of this type of email would like people to click on one of these links that will allow him to gain access to personal information. Before clicking on a link in a suspicious e-mail, it is a good idea to check the URL carefully. This way you can be sure that you are clicking on a link that directs you to a trustworthy website. A phishing link will often be different from a company's official website.
• Asking for personal information
  A trustworthy organization (such as a bank or government agency) will never ask for personal information such as a PIN or password through an e-mail.

How can you prevent phishing?

Of course, there are still a number of things by which you can recognize a phishing email. But there are also a number of preventive measures to avoid phishing.

• The most obvious measure perhaps, but never share personal information via e-mail, phone or other means of communication.
• Always use a strong password and change it with some regularity. A password of at least 12 characters with a variation of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and special characters is recommended. In addition, we recommend using a password manager. This manager will help you generate a strong password and remember it for you.
• Use two-factor authentication (2FA). You can easily activate 2FA in your my.OXXA.com environment.
• Always report phishing attempts to the organization claiming to have sent the e-mail.
• Install anti-phishing software and keep this software up-to-date.

Nothing is more irritating than an e-mail box full of spam. Especially when these spam emails seem so real that a phishing attempt is made on you or your customers, with all the consequences! With the incoming email filtering solution of SpamExperts, we ensure optimal email continuity and protection against phishing, but also spam, viruses, ransom- and malware. Want to know more about SpamExperts and the possibilities of a license for your email or your customers' email? Then get in touch with us!

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