How to Outsmart Sophisticated Phishing Scams

You’ve probably heard of phishing. But do you know how to protect yourself from falling victim to it? Phishing scams have become very sophisticated, but there are some simple things you can do to keep your personal information safe.

What is Phishing?

Let’s start with a basic description: Phishing is a type of scam where an attacker sends a fraudulent message to trick you into revealing sensitive information - often to access your accounts or commit identity theft.

Phishing attempts usually occur through email, over the phone, or via text message. They can be very well-designed to look or sound like legitimate messages from those you know and trust, such as your financial institution, and may contain a link that directs you to a fake website that looks legitimate.

How to Detect Phishing Scams

There are ways to avoid phishing scams if you know what to look for. Be on the lookout for these identifying factors:

• Inconsistencies in email addresses. Phishing emails will typically come from an unfamiliar, unusual email address. The easiest way to detect this is to hover your cursor over the email address to reveal the true “from” address.
• Unfamiliar greeting or salutation. Sometimes the informality or other irregularity of a salutation can and should provoke suspicion. Be on the lookout for this type of irregularity in emails and text messages, and perhaps even phone calls.
• Bad grammar, spelling mistakes or unusual language. Legitimate emails and text messages will not have these mistakes. However, they are often found in phishing scams.
• Demand for urgent action. Emails, text messages and phone calls threatening some type of negative consequence, loss of money, or missed opportunity are key factors in phishing scams. The urgency prompts you to act without thinking and is what ultimately gets intelligent consumers to fall for these well-designed phishing scams.
• Requests for passwords. Do not respond to a text alert, email, or phone call asking for a password, PIN, or any other security information. Never give this information to anyone, even if you think it’s your bank or credit union. They will never ask you for this information. Ever.

Tip #1: Do not expect phishing emails to be filtered into your Junk mail. Because they are often individually crafted based on information gathered on your social media sites, they can avoid detection from advanced email filters.

Tip #2: Be wary of long text numbers. If you receive a text message from an unidentified number longer than 10 digits, the odds are high it’s a scam.

Thank You for Supporting Children in Foster Care!

Thank you for supporting the recent diaper and wipe donation drive that CCCU held for Safe Nest, the nonprofit that helps foster children and foster parents in Clark County.

The collective donations from our members and employees totaled 2,500 diapers and 2,500 wipes to help infants and toddlers, plus a check worth nearly $800 that will help foster parents in need. Safe Nest, through Peggy’s Attic donation center, also provides clothing, shoes, toys, books, toiletries, and formula that helps foster families with everyday expenses.

Check out the social post Clark County Department of Family Services released sharing their appreciation for CCCU’s participation. We encourage our members to donate to Peggy’s Attic or learn more about their Foster Care program.