Before I delve into this article properly, I will like to make a quick clarification on how to pronounce the word “Phishing”. Why I felt it is important for me to do that is because most people get caught up with the pronunciation of the word but the truth is that the word phishing is derived from fishing which means that it is pronounced just the same way fishing is pronounced. The difference is in the spelling which is just the changing of the letter “F” to two letters “PH”. Having said this, I will want to let you know that there are over %50 chances of you getting in contact with any phishing site either through your mobile phones or your PC’s. What this means is that you must pay strict attention to the contents of this article for you do not want to fall victim to their gimmick or deception. For me to do justice to this topic, I will break it down into point for easy and better understanding.
Points to look out for
· The meaning of the word Phishing
· How to identify a Phishing web site or email
· The risk of visiting a Phishing web site or mail
· Phishing and Cryptocurrency
These above-mentioned subheadings will be discussed in this article especially how it affects every cryptocurrency investor and I presume by the time I am done with this article, you will get to understand why you should avoid every form of a Phishing site, web or email. Are you ready for this?
The meaning of the word Phishing
Phishing is a malicious act of keeping or hosting a website or sending a false email with the intention of acquiring sensitive pieces of information like username, passwords and credit card details from innocent users. Just as it sounds like the word fishing, one can say that these websites or emails are like baits for fish which the fisherman sets for the fish hoping and praying that a fish will attempt to eat the bait. We all know that it takes earthworms and some other bait which the fisherman must bring as he is going to fish for him to be successful in his fishing expedition. Have you ever asked yourself what could happen if the fisherman does not set the trap with that which the fish likes i.e. earthworms? He will end up trying for hours with nothing to show for it.
If you look at these websites or emails with the idea of a fisherman laying down his trap for the fish, you will understand why these malicious websites or emails are called Phishing sites or emails. The owners or hosts of these sites and emails will always lay a trap with that which may seem very hard for you to resist. This takes us to the next point.
How to Identify a Phishing web or email
There are lots of ways to identify a phishing email or website but the major problem why people fall victim to this malicious malware is because unsuspecting users are presented with information’s that will be so hard for them to resist thereby given them no opportunity to crosscheck the email links and web security protocols. Let us look at the commonest ones we can always see whenever we receive such an email or visit a phishing web. I have been able to underline these factors because I have been saying them over and over again.
· The first thing you must notice is that the email you received was sent from a public email domain. What does this mean? In the internet world, every organisation will have a unique email address that does not end in the same manner the email address of individuals end. For instance, the email of Amazon will not end with @gmail.com rather it will end with @amazon.com. This is the very first red flag that you must notice when a phishing site emails you.
· Another thing you will notice is that the domain will be misspelt. Mind you most times these phishing websites will want to create an email address that is similar to the original email of the entity they are trying to impersonate. That is where the misspelling comes from because once google mail recognises a mail with the same name, it will query you with the notification that such address is already in existence therefore you cannot use it. When this happens, they are forced to use a similar name but with either a change in the capitalization of the word or by misspelling it. For instance, instead of the mail ending with @amazon.com, you will see something like @amason.com, @amezon.com, @amazzon.com, @Amazon.com and @amazun.com.
Now, an unsuspecting user who has received such phishing mail will not know or even bother to check the ending of the email address and once he clicks on the link sent to him, the rest is history.
Poor sentence construction is another red flag that one must notice whenever a phishing web is involved. They become successful if the victim is someone who does not have an average command of the English language. Whenever you receive an email or text message and you notice that the language construction is very poor, just know that such mail or is coming from a phishing website.
You will also notice that the mail has some attachments and links which are very suspicious because most times these attachments and links will redirect you to other sites once you click on them and these sites are not in any way related to the original site.
The last point I will talk about is what I have noticed over the years. If you carefully look at the mail or message you received, you will notice this sense of urgency making you believe that you have a limited time to click on the link or carry out the necessary things they want you to do.
No matter how fast or busy you might be, never forget to check out these points I have enumerated. This does not mean that there are only five ways by which you can identify a phishing website or mail rather these are the commonest and the ones I have noticed over the years.
The risk of visiting a Phishing website or mail
There is only but one ultimate risk in visiting a phishing website or mail and that is Loss of Credentials/ login details/ credit card pin/ password. These y things are so important and private which is why they are only after these things and once they gain access to them, you are the risk of losing your assets within a twinkle of an eye. You must be very vigilant when it comes to mails and visiting any web address you see. You are not just at the risk of losing your assets you can also lose your privacy in the sense that whoever is controlling the Phishing website will take over your online presence.
Phishing and Cryptocurrency
I decide to talk about this at the end of this article because this is the area that affects most of us both the old and young in the crypto world. Have you been scammed before? Have you seen your wallet emptied just because you pasted a link in your wallet Dapp? The rate at which scammers have improved on their skills in scamming unsuspecting individuals through every necessary means has become very alarming. These scammers do these things through the use of Phishing web links or even the latest one which is called dusting. A lot of people have lost their assets through these malicious activities this is why you must make an effort on your own to carefully watch out for any phishing activity whether through the use of mails, web site or even Text messages.
I hope I have been able to inform you and not deform you on the necessary things you can do to protect your account and your assets at all times. See you at the top.
