Andy,
The basic clues are that they'll ask you to update some kind of
personal account information and 'conveniently' provide you a link to the
site login. Most reputable sites won't do that. If there's an actual
problem with something like a bank account or other secure login a reputable
company will tell you to browse to their site via your web browser and
login. They won't add a link to the notice email making that easy to do as
that's how these phishing scams work, they redirect you to a login page that
looks legitimate (heck anyone can create a convincing looking web page)
where you'll type in your account name and password info and at that point
they have you.
Reading the basic email isn't really the problem, but if you aren't dead
certain of where an email came from then don't click any links or
attachments and never follow a convenient link to a site login when someone
says you have account problems to resolve. Always leave the email, if it's
something like a bank account then contact them by other means (e.g. phone
to a known number) or at the very least leave your email and use your web
browser to visit their known site to see if there actually is an account
problem.
Folks with appropriate IT skills can also look at things like email header
addressing or inspect URLs to see if the address displayed is a spoof (looks
like one address but is actually another) but if you aren't familiar with
those tools then just keep it safe and never click on links embedded in
emails unless you're certain you know the sender. Even if it's someone you
know, make sure it makes sense. A common scam these days is for someone to
get a hold of something like a FB friend's list and you'll get an email,
presumably from a good friend, that instructs you to click an embedded link.
But the giveaway is that there's no actual friendly discussion in the email,
nothing like how are you doing Andy and how is it going with........ just a
link, a hello and something like 'Here's the Info you requested' when you
haven't actually requested info from this person. Don't click on that link,
don't reply and just delete the email. You can always reach out to the
friend via other channels and double check to see if they really did send
you something.
Google, stuff like 'avoiding phishing scams' or similar and you'll get a lot
of practical info.
-Dave
K7TRF
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of P C Andy
Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2017 12:17 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: [TenTec] Phishing Scam
Howdy all , not being a computer Guru or an IT person, how would I recognize
a post that would be a Phishing Scam. I guess it is best not to open any
mail unless you know who sent it by name and email address. I am sure I miss
a lot of good information but I probably delete a dozen emails for everyone
I open.
Andy, W3LI
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