5 Phishing Scams You Need to Pay Attention to

Phishing scams first made an appearance more than two decades ago, with scams luring in unsuspecting email accounts on promises of winning a fortune in sweepstakes or a downtrodden person from a foreign country asking for charity — all in an effort to gain personal or financial information.

While email scams are still prevalent, online con artists have evolved into targeting everyone from video game users to cryptocurrency investors and organizations in virtually every industry. What’s also evolved is where they attack. Smartphone cyber attacks have steadily risen every year, nearly equal to computer hacks. 

Read More: Why You Shouldn’t Store Data on the Cloud

Learn more about some of the more frightening phishing attacks you should be aware of in 2018.

Spoofed Email Accounts
The traditional phishing scams via email are becoming more sophisticated as these messages can now beat email safeguards. Scammers are targeting users by impersonating email accounts from friends and co-workers that look like the real deal. These hackers are often taking advantage of phishing vulnerability Mailsploit, which can spoof email addresses to the user and email server.

FIFA World Cup 2018
The FIFA World Cup 2018 is only a few months away as it kicks off on June 14 and runs through July 15, marking the most anticipated sporting event of the year. Hackers are taking advantage of the event by sending fraudulent emails to victims, offering them “free” tickets and other products for free. These emails appear to be legitimate because they use FIFA’s official logo, as well as information from organizers and official sponsors to trick you into believing it’s legitimate.

SMS and Social Media
Hackers are also using SMS phishing attacks because it’s typically more difficult to protect users from these types of attacks over email scams. Clicking on a fake link may be all it takes to gather your information. Social media is also being used to con victims with fake accounts that pretend to be customer service agents for large brands. Hackers are also using phishing bots to steal your social media information and launch social engineering attacks against you or your family and friends. 

Cryptocurrency Attacks
If you have a digital wallet filled with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, hackers may be targeting you with links that download malicious files on your device and take over your “wallet” with the intent to steal your bitcoin. These often come in emails that appear to be from a digital wallet site, offering you a free upgrade to your account.

Cloud-Based Phishing Scams
Using a cloud to backup your data has no shortage of benefits, but cloud technology is still vulnerable to phishing attacks. Beware if you receive an email that appears to be from your cloud provider, asking you to authenticate your account. Though it seems like a normal procedure, it may not be. Review any past emails from your cloud service to compare, or contact support directly to check if they indeed, sent the request.