What Is Phishing? How to Spot and Avoid Scams

Phishing is the most common cyberattack in the world, and it works because it exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Over 90 percent of successful data breaches begin with a phishing attack. Phishing messages impersonate trusted entities to trick you into revealing sensitive information, clicking malicious links, or downloading malware. Learning to recognize and avoid phishing is the single most important cybersecurity skill you can develop.

Types of Phishing Attacks

Phishing has evolved far beyond the obvious Nigerian prince emails. Modern phishing attacks come in many forms:

• Email phishing: The most common type. Mass emails impersonating banks, tech companies, delivery services, or employers. These cast a wide net, sending identical messages to thousands or millions of recipients.

• Spear phishing: Targeted attacks aimed at specific individuals or organizations. The attacker researches their target and crafts personalized messages that reference real colleagues, projects, or events to increase credibility.

• Whaling: Spear phishing targeting senior executives or other high-value individuals. These attacks often impersonate board members, legal counsel, or business partners and involve urgent requests for wire transfers or sensitive data.

• Smishing (SMS phishing): Phishing via text messages. Common examples include fake package delivery notifications, bank fraud alerts, and toll payment demands.

• Vishing (voice phishing): Phishing via phone calls. Attackers impersonate tech support, government agencies, banks, or service providers. AI-generated voice cloning is making vishing increasingly convincing.

• Business Email Compromise (BEC): Attackers either compromise or impersonate a business email account to trick employees into transferring funds, changing payment details, or sharing sensitive information.

• Clone phishing: The attacker takes a legitimate email you previously received and resends it with the links or attachments replaced with malicious versions.

• QR code phishing (quishing): Malicious QR codes placed on physical surfaces or in emails that direct to credential-harvesting websites.

How to Recognize Phishing Attempts

Phishing messages share common characteristics that reveal their true nature. Train yourself to check for these indicators:

Sender Verification

• Check the actual email address, not just the display name. A message from "Amazon Support" might come from support@amaz0n-security.com rather than amazon.com.

• Look for subtle misspellings in domain names: micros0ft.com, paypa1.com, app1e.com.

• Be suspicious of emails from free email services (gmail.com, yahoo.com) claiming to be from businesses or government agencies.

Content Red Flags

• Urgency and pressure: "Your account will be closed in 24 hours," "Immediate action required," "Your payment was declined."

• Threats and fear: "Unauthorized login detected," "Legal action will be taken," "Your account has been compromised."

• Too good to be true: "You have won," "Unclaimed refund," "Free gift card."

• Generic greetings: "Dear Customer" or "Dear User" instead of your actual name.

• Grammar and spelling errors: While increasingly rare in sophisticated attacks, poor language quality remains a red flag.

• Mismatched URLs: Hover over links (without clicking) to see the actual destination. The displayed text may say "amazon.com" while the actual link goes to "amaz0n-security.com/login."

Request Red Flags

• Requests for passwords, PINs, Social Security numbers, or financial information. Legitimate organizations do not request these via email or text.

• Requests to click links to verify your identity or update your information.

• Unexpected attachments, especially compressed files (.zip, .rar) or documents with macros (.docm, .xlsm).

• Requests for unusual payment methods such as gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.

What to Do When You Receive a Phishing Message

When you identify a suspected phishing message, take these steps:

1. Do not click any links or open any attachments. Even previewing an attachment can execute malicious code in some cases.

1. Do not reply to the message. Replying confirms your email address is active and monitored, making you a target for future attacks.

1. Verify independently. If the message claims to be from a company or person you know, contact them directly using a phone number or website you find independently, not one provided in the suspicious message.

1. Report the phishing attempt. Forward phishing emails to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org. Forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (SPAM). Report the message through your email platform's built-in reporting feature.

1. Delete the message after reporting it.

What to Do If You Fell for a Phishing Attack

If you clicked a phishing link, entered credentials, or opened a malicious attachment, act immediately:

1. Change the password on the affected account immediately. If you use the same password elsewhere, change those as well.

1. Enable multi-factor authentication on the affected account if not already enabled.

1. If you entered financial information, contact your bank or credit card company immediately to freeze the account and dispute any unauthorized transactions.

1. Run a full antivirus scan on your device.

1. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity over the following weeks.

1. If the phishing targeted your work account, notify your IT department immediately.

Protection Tools and Practices

Layer multiple protections to reduce phishing risk:

• Email filtering: Use email services with built-in phishing detection (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace) and consider additional email security tools.

• Web browser protections: Modern browsers include phishing and malware protection. Keep your browser updated and do not ignore security warnings.

• Password managers: A password manager will not auto-fill credentials on a phishing site because it recognizes the URL does not match the legitimate site. This provides an additional layer of protection beyond human judgment.

• Multi-factor authentication: Even if an attacker obtains your password through phishing, MFA prevents them from accessing your account without the second factor.

• DNS filtering: Services like Quad9 or Cloudflare for Families block known phishing domains at the network level.

• Security awareness training: Regular training and phishing simulations keep recognition skills sharp.

Bellator Cyber Guard provides phishing awareness training, simulated phishing campaigns, and email security solutions for individuals and organizations. Our training programs are engaging, practical, and tailored to the specific phishing threats your industry faces. Contact us at guard@bellatorit.com to build your defenses against the most common cyberattack in the world.