subject: How Can You Tell If An Email Is Phishing? [print this page] t is a frequently reasserted fact that a majority of the emails sent daily, monthly and annually across the globe are from malicious sources and linked to phishing sites. The torrent of spam mail is the bane of many email and internet service providers and it is possible for unsuspecting users to be duped into giving away personal details and money by phishing campaigns. If you fall victim to a phishing email you might also find that your computer is liable to infection by viruses and spyware. However, it is usually easy to spot when an email is from a phishing site and when it is legitimate as long as you know what to look out for. In all cases it is best to err on the side of caution and you should be able to keep your personal data safe without restricting your enjoyment of email.
The most obvious sign that an email is part of a phishing campaign is that it has arrived in your inbox unsolicited. You may have signed up to newsletters with various sites and in many cases when you enter your email address into a website for any reason you should expect to receive emails from that particular party in an attempt to sell you further products or services. This is all an accepted part of online existence and you might have a rough idea about which sites will be sending you emails legitimately. However, this does not mean that you will be safe, because the purpose of any phishing email is to convince the receiver that it is from a trusted source, such as a bank or online retailer that you may well use.
You can almost always tell that an email is the result of phishing, even if it is presented in a highly convincing manner, if the firm it claims to be from is asking you to verify personal details. This is regularly used when cybercriminals seek to harvest private data, but in reality it should be easy to deflect because most banks and retailers will operate a policy of never asking for your personal details via email. If you do receive an email that appears to be from a trusted site and it asks for personal details, it is best to discount it and visit the official website or make a call to a representative in person.
In order to convince users that they must part with their data, most phishing emails are written in a manner that suggests urgent action is required. The tone will frequently seem professional, but the email could suggest that if you do not respond with updated details in a given timeframe your account will be deleted or some similar negative action will take place. In many cases people will skim read this request and comply to save hassle at a later date, but in reality they will be handing their details into the wrong hands.
Most phishing emails will contain links to seemingly legitimate sites, with requests that you click them in order to perform some action or benefit from some deal. These links can be manipulated so that they emulate the style of official sites whilst sneakily redirecting you to a phishing site. In other cases they might be subtly misspelled domain names, which can easily be misread by the user. A relatively new phishing trick which avoids the spam filters of many email providers is to have the body text made up of an image file, as this cannot be scanned. Any email possessing the traits listed above is best left well alone.
