How to Protect Yourself from Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering is a type of scam — typically conducted online or via telephone — where the criminal uses psychological manipulation. These attacks are often more sophisticated than other forms of scams, because the criminal already has personal information about the victim. Essentially, the goal of a social engineering attack is to take advantage of a victim when he or she is most vulnerable and more likely to fall for the attack. Some examples of social engineering attacks include vishing (via telephone), phishing (via the Internet), and smishing (via SMS messaging). What are the various steps you can take to protect yourself from social engineering attacks?

Use DFNDR’s Anti-Hacking feature to protect yourself from malicious websites that may seek to steal your personal information or money. This will block phishing-attempts and send you notifications of dangerous websites so that you never enter your personal information on an unsafe site. Click above to activate Anti-Hacking.

Read More: The Cloudfare Data Leak: What You Need to Know

Check for Malware on Your Device

To further ensure the security of your Android, you should regularly run virus scans on your device. If you’re short on time — and don’t want to run a Full Virus Scan — then you can run a Security Scan. This will quickly check for any viruses or security breaches on your device, and make sure that all of your files and apps are in order. Any viruses or issues will be fixed instantly. That way, you never have to sacrifice the safety of your device, even if you’re short on time. Click here to run a quick scan for malware on your device:

There are various ways that you can be safer online and beyond, but the main thing to remember is to always be skeptical. Be skeptical of unknown and seemingly known email addresses, telephone calls, online links, text messages, etc. Always check the URL to make sure you are on the correct website before entering any account or payment information.

Don’t click on any unknown links or telephone numbers sent via email or social networking sites, and be cautious of any phone calls or emails that claim to be your bank. If a phone call or email seems suspicious or odd, don’t respond. Instead, contact your bank by using a different phone number (if you were contacted by telephone), and by calling the phone number provided on your account statement. Or, log into your bank account and check for any notifications.