Email is a fantastic business tool. It’s also a fantastic marketing method and a great way to communicate with people. This is not just in a business sense but also with friends and family. However, email, brilliant as it is, also reveals another weakness. It is one of the easiest ways to get to us. It is also a particularly easy way for scammers to enter into our lives. Just one small mistake and you can find that account details are stolen and your identity used for the various activities. One of the most random and ingenious ways of doing this is by phishing.
Phishing is a technique that means you get hooked. A random email is sent to you. At first it appears to be completely honest or even a mistake. It claims that you have purchased something by Amazon, maybe you have a delivery at the post office that hasn’t been collected and you owe money for it. All you have to do is click on the link that is attached with the email and you’ll be taken to a website where you can sort the problem out. The only problem is there is no website and you have ended up downloading a virus that could well lockout your computer and hold it to ransom. Contacting a Cybersecurity Risk Management company like https://www.jmpcyberinsurance.co.uk/cyber-liability-insurance/ can offset the cost.
The other form of phishing email is one that engages you to respond to it. It claims you have won a prize and all you need to do is include your name, age and postcode. This is enough for criminals to use this to set up fake accounts applied for mortgages or other financial services. Phishing emails are simple. If it’s too good to be true it usually is and if you are in any doubt about the authenticity ring the company that is supposed to have sent it first. Not using the number on the email.