Phishing is a practice that is as old as the internet itself. As we have become increasingly web savvy, we have all become less susceptible to classic scams stating we’ve won a free iPhone or ten million Ugandan dollars. Because of this, online scams have become more sophisticated and harder to detect, which makes many people concerned about their safety online.
Google has stated that they managed to block 99.9% of all phishing scams successfully, but despite this, some still fall through the net. It’s estimated that over 326,000 people were victims of phishing scams in 2021 alone. So although the web is much safer now than it once was, it’s still incredibly important to be cautious online.
Phishing is a method of fraudulence used by online scammers. Phishers feign legitimacy by pretending to be a company you can trust and then convince victims to install malicious software or to hand over personal identity information, such as logins, passwords and bank details. To find out more about the types of phishing, check out the article on our blog.
As phishers are actively attempting to defraud you, they can often be very difficult to identify. Some people will find themselves the victim of a phishing scam and not even realize that they’ve clicked on a fraudulent link. So, here’s how you can find out if you’ve accidentally clicked on a suspicious link before it’s too late:
Phishing has been a problem since the dawn of the World Wide Web, and as such, web browser companies have been trying to protect you from scams by flagging suspicious websites. These alerts appear as full-screen warnings before connecting you to the suspicious website.
Spam emails are the most common method scammers use to send suspicious links. If you’re wondering what spam is, find out more in our handy blog piece. You can often spot a suspicious link by reading the URL, which will likely not be the same as the website of the company they are pretending to be. Before clicking on a received link, look at the sender’s email address. This should match the domain of the website. For example, if an email address ends in “@apple.com” you will know that the sender actually works at Apple.
Phishing scams usually employ an urgent tone, suggesting that if you don’t act now, you’ll miss out. This is to convince you to click on a suspicious link without checking who sent it first. Bad spelling or grammar is another red flag that you’ve been sent a suspicious link, so be sure to read closely to identify a scam.
Another way to easily identify a phishing scam is if someone is asking for your bank details. Scam emails often try to phish bank details off their victims by saying they are due a payout—a refund or a fake competition win. They also try to get your bank details by offering huge, unrealistic discounts on expensive goods or state that you’ve been issued with a fine.
To find out more about banking scams, read our article about the infamous Apple ID scams. These scammers prey on FOMO, so the most important thing to remember when avoiding a scam is that if something is too good to be true, it probably is.
If you accidentally click on a suspicious link on a Mac, the very first thing you should do is close down the webpage and quit your browser. This will ensure that the internet connection between yourself and the scammer is ended instantly and will protect you from being phished further.
It’s very easy to panic, but the best thing to do is to stay calm and be proactive. Think about what personal information you’ve provided to the scammer. For example, if you haven’t provided any banking credentials, you won’t need to contact your bank.
There are many ways to protect yourself after clicking on a suspicious link:
If you think you clicked on a bad link on Mac, and that your security has been compromised, you should immediately disable your internet connection to protect yourself. Should you be using a wired connection, simply unplug your Ethernet cable to disconnect from the internet immediately. For mobile devices, simply turn on Airplane Mode. If, like most of us, you connect to the internet using Wi-Fi, follow the steps below:
Most phishing scams will, at some point, ask for your bank details or credit card number. If you have accidentally provided sensitive bank credentials to a scammer, it is vital that you contact your bank as soon as possible to prevent money being taken from your account. Your bank will then be able to flag any suspicious transactions and protect your finances.
Some banking apps also offer a feature to disable or freeze your card immediately, which is an ideal thing to do if you accidentally provide your credit card number to a scammer. In the event that money has been taken from your account, many banks offer fraud protection and may be able to refund the money taken from you. A good rule of thumb is that the sooner you contact your bank, the sooner you will be safe from the phisher.
To back up your data using Time Machine, you have to make sure your external drive is formatted in either APFS or macOS Extended (Journaled). Then, open the Time Machine menu in System Preferences, and select your drive to back up your files.
For more details, see our below step-by-step guide:
If you click on a phishing link on Mac, there’s a risk of catching one of the most dangerous types of malware—spyware—allowing a phisher complete access to a hacked MacBook. Fortunately, you can detect and protect malware easily using an antivirus software like MacKeeper. For this, follow these steps:
If you click on a scam link on Mac, it’s possible that your login credentials for various online accounts could now be compromised. You should immediately look to change all of your passwords as scammers harvest user data like your passwords and sell them to others online. You can automatically check which of your passwords have been compromised using MacKeeper’s ID Theft Guard:
Many phishers try to scam their victims by pretending to be tech support, and will try to convince you to install software to remove viruses that you don’t actually have. So, if you need support, you should use a reputable service. Find out how to use the tech support in MacKeeper’s Premium Service below:
In the unfortunate event that you have been phished, and your personal data has been compromised, it’s incredibly important to warn your family and friends about the scam you’ve faced.
What for? If you’ve been phished, the hackers will potentially have access to your contact list and may attempt to pull the same scam on your loved ones. Hence, by warning your close ones about the phishing accident, you protect your family and friends so that they won’t get scammed as well.
Defending yourself against suspicious links on your Mac is the best way to protect yourself online, and this will be much easier if you know exactly what to look for when attempting to identify a phishing attack. Start with the three major prevention methods first:
Most phishers impersonate a real company in order to feign legitimacy, such as in the notorious iforgot.apple.com scam. Scammers do this in order to pry sensitive information from you without you realizing it. It’s always worth approaching any email with skepticism initially and going through our above checklist to ensure a link is legitimate.
The most important thing to never give away to suspicious parties is your bank details. A good way to check if a website is secure is by looking at the URL in your web browser. Secure websites should begin with https://. The ‘s’ in https stands for ‘secure’—and any website that doesn’t feature it, and instead begins with http:// isn’t secure, so you should never provide personal information on that website.
Another increasingly common method scammers are using to phish new victims is to send bogus calendar invitations. These notifications are typically sent to your email inbox and ask you to accept, decline, or respond with. It’s important not to click either of these options, as this will let the scammers know that your email account is real. They’ll then flood your calendar with scam links offering free iPhones or discounts for malicious software.
Instead, you should report the suspicious emails as phishing scams within your mail app, which you can do by clicking the report phishing option in your inbox. This will not only protect you from further emails from this scammer but prevent these emails from being sent to others who may not be as savvy as you.
To prevent suspicious software from appearing on your MacBook, make sure you download any apps from trusted sources, such as an official website or the App Store. You should also avoid installing pirated software, and never download apps from links in an advert or that are sent to you over email or SMS.
However, the previous list isn’t full; it’s just for the beginning. Now, let’s discuss some other ways you can identify and avoid phishing links online:
The above image shows an example of a real phishing email, which was flagged by Gmail. The scammers are posing as government officials, trying to convince a potential victim that they’re entitled to money. This is a textbook example of a phishing scam, where there are nonsensical email addresses and dodgy URLs. Furthermore, the provided link is insecure, and there are spelling errors at the end of the email.
After reading this comprehensive guide, you should now be a pro at identifying phishing attacks and will be able to protect yourself from suspicious spam emails or from installing bogus software. Remember to check URLs and email addresses, and be suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true.
To stay secure online, look no further than MacKeeper. Its built-in Antivirus helps to automatically detect and remove malicious software from your Mac with ease, and it’s constantly updated to identify the latest threats in cyberspace. What’s more, MacKeeper has various privacy features such as VPN Private Connect to hide your activity from prying eyes, ID Theft Guard to give you control over your personal data, and the invaluable StopAd tool that protects you from annoying pop-ups and phishing ads online.
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