How to spot phishing scams

The highlights:

• In the digital age, taking your cybersecurity seriously is critical, especially when it comes to your emails and messages. Look out for phony messages designed to steal your information.
• Phishing scams can be very sophisticated and hard to spot, but knowing what to look out for can help you safeguard your personal data.
• If you think you may have fallen for a phishing scam, don’t panic, but do act quickly.

Cyber thieves are becoming more sophisticated, making it harder to tell whether a spam message may have been sent to you. The number of phishing cases reported continues to rise each year and experts estimate that 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent each day.^{Disclosure 1} Luckily, there are ways you can help protect yourself so you can confidently scroll and swipe through the digital world.

What to know about phishing scams

Phishing is the process of fraudulently accessing your personal data by posing as a person, brand, or company you trust. If they're successful, scammers can use your passwords, Social Security number, birthday, credit card numbers, or bank account info to try to make purchases, transfer funds from your accounts, or open new accounts using your identity.

Scammers are creative in their ploys but often predictable in their mindset. The whole idea is to fool you as much as they can, for as long as they can, to steal as much as they can. Scammers will take different approaches to try to get your info—it can start with an email asking you to reset your password, claiming your account was compromised, or appearing to be a friend request from a fake profile. While phishing scams continue to evolve, cybercriminals often use the same strategies and schemes to try and lure potential victims. Look for company name misspellings or URLs that are slightly different from a legitimate website. Read on to see examples of common phishing scams.

Four different types of phishing scams.

Americans lost approximately $12.5 billion to online fraud in 2023, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The more you know about phishing scams, the easier it can be to identify these risks—and the more confident you can feel online. No doubt you’ve been bombarded with pop-ups claiming you have a virus or text messages that provide fake package tracking links. Those types of scams are only the beginning—watch out for these other common types of phishing attacks:

1. Social media phishing: You know that random account that followed you on Instagram? There’s a chance it could be a fake profile set up to target you and others in your friend circle. Social media phishing accounts sometimes have minimal traffic and lack authentic content and engagement when you dig into their profiles. Cyber thieves often pose as a relative or a friend of a friend.

2. Email phishing: Scammers have gotten really good at creating emails that look official, posing as your bank or a retailer you shop with. They may claim that you need to reset your password or update your payment information, often making the matter out to be urgent. Their goal is to trick you into handing over your account information or clicking a link that contains malware. 

3. SMS phishing (smishing): Similar to the types of messages you may receive from email or social media phishing, scammers who are able to get your phone number may also send text messages that contain harmful links or urgently request sensitive information. 

4. Spear phishing: A targeted scam that zeroes in on people or companies with status or wealth. Typical targets include the elderly, organizations, and employees who have access to money or sensitive account information.