Beware of these Phishing Emails That Could Be Hooking Your Employees

In the digital age, employees should be able to spot a typical internet scam, but some 23 percent of people open phishing scam emails, and 11 percent open attached files, putting their computers — and your business at risk. As techniques for stealing information online get more and more sophisticated, chances improve that scammers might hook a member of your team.

 Here are some of the scams that you need to make sure your team knows about:

Phishing Scams That Use Big Name Companies

Scammer communications mimic those of well-known companies, often convincing employees like yours, that they are for real. Faked notices and account requests simulate ones from big companies like:

• AT&T
• Bank of America
• Chase Bank
• PayPal
• Verizon

Scammers have even used websites that look like the Better Business Bureau site and send out invitations to edit Google Drive documents that link to malicious sites.  

Alert Your Team to These Other Phishing Email Types

Commonly-encountered types of emails scammers that you should alert your teams about include:

• Business, investment, and work-at-home opportunities.
• Free goods or services offers.
• Guaranteed loan or credit offers.

Heightened awareness to some of the more common "identifying denominators" of dangerous emails or sites can greatly diminish the chance that your employees will be hooked by these online scams. Odd web addresses misspelled words or pop-ups that request account sign-ins should stand out like red flags.

Beware the "Brute Force Attack"

The new Domain-based Authentication Reporting and Conformance standard, or DMARC, is security effort developed by industry to combat online theft. And companies like yours are educating employees.

But scammers aren't easily put off. Scammers also use “brute force attacks,” trial-and-error methods used to obtain information such as a user password or personal identification numbers. In addition to telling employees to avoid clicking on phishing scams, be sure to advise that they employ complicated passwords to reduce the chance that these sort of attacks can hurt your employee and your business.