An eagle-eyed reader spotted a phishing scam the other day.
“Wow, Cyn, I almost took the bait on this one! For some reason, I often have to sign into my accounts as if I’ve never used that device before (I’ve used it for months or years, but I get all the security alert emails again anyway). This email showed up, coincidentally, after such an occasion.
Okay, mine’s a Hotmail address, which is Microsoft… just like Outlook. Just before I tapped the “Report Activity” link, though, I expanded the header to check the sender’s email address. Good thing I did!
From trafficmanager.net, huh? Not exactly a Microsoft security email address! I immediately blocked the sender & deleted the email, grateful for the extra moment I spent checking. Scammers are getting increasingly sneaky… which means we need to be increasingly vigilant.”
There’s not much I can add to this, Sir, but to say you did exactly the right thing! Check everything. Don’t just click. These scammers will use exactly the kind of messages and notifications we expect to get every day. And it’s not like it’s just individuals sending them, these are automated scam factories pumping out billions of phishing emails!
Great catch and thanks for the warning!
Yes. Just how was that headline expanded?