The following are some of the hooks or signs of a phishing email that can indicate an email is not as genuine as it appears to be.
The first thing that usually arouses suspicion when reading a phishing message is that the language isn’t quite right.
One of the more common signs of a phishing email is bad spelling and the incorrect use of grammar.
Another simple way to identify a potential phishing attack is to look for discrepancies in email addresses, links and domain names.
Emails that use a sense of urgency to encourage, or even demand, immediate action in a bid to fluster the receiver, should always be treated with suspicion.
If an email with an attached file is received from an unfamiliar source, the attachment should be opened with caution.
One of the most sophisticated types of phishing emails is when an attacker has created a fake landing page that recipients are directed to by a link in an official looking email.
Leading on from the point above, if the email is asking for something to be done that is not the norm, then that too is an indicator that the message is potentially malicious