Alarming news from security experts – they say phishing attacks have jumped 40% this year compared to last year.
If you’re not familiar with the term, phishing (pronounced like regular old fishing) is when scammers send messages or emails claiming to be from legitimate sources that lure you into clicking on malicious links or sharing your private information.
According to the experts at AVAST, refund and invoice scams have been particularly popular with crooks lately. These crooks send fake bills and invoices for goods and services that you never used. Sometimes these emails are very convincing.
As we’ve discussed before, these emails usually demand you take immediate action or risk losing your account or paying some huge fee. Don’t let these crooks kick off a panic response where you click before you think.
Take five minutes to think about the situation. If you suspect an issue, do not click on any links in the email or call any numbers in that email.
Go to the dashboard for your actual account or look up their customer service number.