An email with a link from banks, PayPal or eBay from known or unknown senders with the subject line "New terms and conditions", "Last reminder", "Current account information" or similar is in your inbox and is waiting to be opened. Although email providers usually filter most fraudulent emails through spam filters. Emails with this subject line sometimes get through. But it is possible to prevent phishing from happening.
Prerequisite: the good faith of the victim.
At first, the clients drew attention to this, but beware: the scammers are getting more and more cunning. The e-mail pretends to come from the recipient's bank and claims that, for security reasons, it is necessary for the customer to visit the bank's website via a link and log in there with his account number, PIN.
This deceptive strategy is known as "phishing". The term describes the effort to fish for passwords, login data, PINs, through fake e-mails, websites or short messages. And to use this access data fraudulently against you without your knowledge.
How can I recognize phishing e-mails and how can I deal with them?
No exclusion through existing/non-existing personalization. "Dear Ms./Dear Mr./...." - personalization of the greeting is no guarantee that the email is from a trusted or even known provider. Large amounts of data are often hacked, stolen and then misused for illegal actions and transactions or generated from the target email. Pay attention to the content and subsequent design of the e-mail.
Not through the name of a service provider you know. Even if you know the company that is (supposedly) sending you an email, your personal information could have been stolen. Pay attention to the content and design of the e-mail.
Examine the company's design and language. You can often recognize phishing emails by the simple, fake or inferior corporate design of the original service provider or by the unprofessional approach to the customer. If for example, well-known brands and suppliers are "imitated" through websites, be careful.
Be alert and remember how banks and other service providers operate.
Basically, keep in mind: Your bank or other service providers such as PayPal and eBay would never send you unsolicited e-mails with a link, forwarding and attachments without your consent. If you have received an e-mail from your current service provider and are in doubt, call them and ask if they have sent you an e-mail and if it is harmless. Or you can always manually type the bank's address into your browser and check if there are any references to the content of the email or downloads. Financial service providers also offer special financial transaction programs for online banking.
If you make purchases via the web or do online banking, always include the URL of the portal. Always start with https:// - this is the most important security note. To be absolutely sure that the site is secure, you should still check that the client's SSL security certificate is correct. It is easily manipulated. Another clue has to do with the closed padlock that is usually seen when a user visits your online banking website. In this way, the browser signals an encrypted connection.
Please be safe and pay attention to these signs, to prevent phishing attacks.