Whether you may have realised it or not, if you have an email account you definitely must have received at least one phishing mail in your inbox. Beware, these mails are sent by people trying to extract personal information from you. They are disguised as urgent mails from people you may know or certain important organisations such as banks, credit card companies, etc. Such emails often contain links that redirect you to sites that appear very similar to the original websites. By not paying close attention, people end up disclosing their private information such as usernames and passwords to these phony sites.
Watch out while checking mails or logging to your social media accounts mainly through smartphones. You could easily become a victim of these phishing mails as compared to those using desktops and laptops. The screen space available on mobile phones is way smaller as compared to a personal computer. Hence, it becomes very difficult for you to determine whether the site that you have been redirected to, is actually a legitimate one or a hoax.
Fortunately, there are a few ways by which you can protect yourself from being duped by these phishing mails. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts to help you keep your personal information safe:
Dos
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Always scan attachments that you receive in your mail; irrespective of whether you know the sender or not.
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Check the receivers’ email ids before sending a mail that bears any kind of personal information.
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Use firewall, antispyware and antivirus software on all the devices you use to check your mails such as desktops, laptops, mobile phones, etc. Also, remember to upgrade your software on a regular basis.
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Keep your web browser updated with the phishing filter enabled at all times.
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If you spot a phishing scam on a social networking site, report it immediately.
Don’ts
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Do Not open emails with suspicious subject lines and sender ids.
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If you are unsure who the sender of a particular email is, don’t click on any links present in his/her mail.
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Don’t reply to an email that asks you to submit any kind of personal information, unless it’s from a trusted source. Even then, it is better to first call that person and verify if he/she did send you that email. If you do not know the sender then send that mail to the Trash folder.
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While browsing through social media sites, Do Not open any video or image if it looks suspicious to you.
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If a mail or a message from an unknown or suspicious source redirects you to a social media login page, kindly Do Not login.
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