Protect Your Personal Info: How to Identify Suspicious Emails and Text Messages

In today’s world, where we’re always online, the risks of someone accessing your personal information are more real than ever. Identity thieves and scammers are continually dreaming up new ways to get a hold of your sensitive information. These include two techniques you may not have heard of — phishing and SMS phishing, or “smishing.”

These common scams are cleverly disguised to seem harmless but are actually aimed at stealing your personal information through texts or emails. Knowing what they are and how to spot them is crucial to protect yourself from these threats.

How to identify and avoid phishing and smishing

Simply put, phishing is when someone tricks you into giving away your personal or financial information through an email, which they then use for bad purposes.

Smishing is when scammers use text messages to try and trick you into giving them your private info, such as passwords, account numbers or your Social Security number. These texts often appear harmless, but they’re not.

Using the STALL method to detect phishing emails

One easy-to-remember way to check to see if an email might be a phishing attempt is to follow the STALL method.

• Sender: Do you know who sent it? If not, be wary.
• Tone: Does the email sound too urgent or just off? That’s a red flag.
• Attachment: Unexpected attachments, especially odd ones, should never be opened.
• Link: Mouse over links to see where they really lead. Shortened URLs can be deceptive.
• Login Requests: Be suspicious of emails asking you to log in anywhere.

Effective strategies to prevent smishing

When you receive a text message that seems suspicious, it’s important to take these added precautions before you respond.

• Remain skeptical: Don’t trust links from numbers you don’t know and ignore requests for your personal info.
• Verify sender identity: Got a suspicious text? Double check who it’s really from before you do anything.
• Safeguard your information: Never text back your sensitive information — no matter what!
• Question caller ID authenticity: Just because the caller ID looks legitimate, doesn’t mean it is.
• Report and block: Think it’s a smishing text? Tell your mobile carrier and block the number to stop them in their tracks.

Use smartphone tools for added protection

Your smartphone has some neat tricks to spot shady links. For example, on an iPhone, you can press and hold on a link to peek at the website it’s going to take you to.

Android phones will show you a warning if the link’s destination isn’t what it appears to be.

Staying alert and informed helps you keep your personal info safe from these widespread scams. When in doubt, always double check on your own and prioritize your online safety.

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