The viciousness of such phishing attacks goes on, getting more and more sophisticated with time. Some of the new phishing attacks are targeted as follows.
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1. Smishing
This type of phishing attacks mobile phones through SMS messages. Scammers identify themselves as calling from a valid organization, like banks or delivery services, in order to compel recipients into clicking on links or providing personal data.
2. Vishing
Vishing calls are made by fraudsters, who usually pretend to represent a company or some other government agency. Sometimes they call with spoofed phone numbers, showing that the phone number being used is a legitimate one in order to deceive victims into revealing secret information.
3. Spear Phishing
This is a highly targeted form of phishing in which personalized e-mails are sent to selected individuals, organizations, or any other entities. Scammers may study their target to glean information that can be used to make their attacks more convincing.
4. Business Email Compromise (BEC)
This class of phishing attacks targets mainly businesses, taking the form of fake electronic messages that appear to be coming from executives or other high-ranking officials of an organization. Scammers may send fake emails to request wire transfers or similar fund transfers.
5. Social Media Phishing
This involves the use of social media in targeting and deceiving prospective victims. Attackers create fake or hijacked accounts, posting links or messages with malicious intent.
How to Protect Oneself
Below are a few ways you can try out to protect yourself from phishing scams.
- Be wary of suspicious unsolicited emails, texts, or calls
- Never click on any links or attachments from unknown sources
- Double-check the sender’s identity before giving out any personal information
- Use strong and unique passwords for each of your online accounts
- Enable two-factor authentication when available
Final Words
Keep your software and operating system updated with the latest security patches. Secondly, one would say knowledge about the ongoing phishing scams would definitely help in taking proactive measures to get protected from such phishing attacks.
