Phishing, Social Engineering & Scam Spotting

The Human Firewall

Technology can block 99% of cyber threats, but social engineering targets the 1% human vulnerability.

Common Phishing Red Flags

1. Urgency & Panic Tactics: "Your account will be suspended in 24 hours!" or "Unusual activity detected, click here immediately!"
2. Mismatching Domain Names: The email claims to be from PayPal, but the sender domain is support@paypal-verify-user92.com.
3. Generic Greetings: "Dear Customer" instead of your actual name.
4. Suspicious Attachments or Links: Hovering over links reveals mismatched target URLs.

CRITICAL RULE:
When in doubt, NEVER click links inside unexpected emails or texts.
Open a new browser tab and navigate directly to the official website!

Social Engineering Tactics

• Spear Phishing: Targeted phishing using personal details scraped from LinkedIn or social media.
• Smishing (SMS Phishing): Fake delivery tracking texts claiming a package is stuck.
• Vishing (Voice Phishing / AI Voice Clones): Scammers using AI to mimic relatives' voices in fake emergency calls.