Phishers are casting lines—Don’t take the bait!
Ridgewood NJ, Over the last several months, we’ve received reports that some people have been receiving somewhat alarming emails claiming to represent Instagram. By somewhat alarming, we mean these emails indicated that the person’s account made copyright violations, which would result in its permanent deletion in 12 or 24 hours. As it turns out, these emails were most certainly not from Instagram. No, they were phishing attempts.
According to the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC pronounced NJ Kick), “phishing” is a form of social engineering in which a threat actor attempts to trick victims into visiting a malicious site and disclosing sensitive information such as account login credentials, financial information, personally identifiable information, or opening a malicious attachment that installs malware onto their system. Phishing attacks can be conducted through email, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, SMS text messages, or over the phone.
Now, there are all types of phishing strategies, which sport clever monikers such as spear-phishing, whaling, smishing, vishing, etc. that target different victims from banks, businesses and individuals to law enforcement agencies.
What you need to know is that you should never click on links or open attachments delivered with unexpected and unsolicited emails, social media messages or text messages. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Forward any suspicious emails to the company or person it’s claiming to be from in order to verify its authenticity or simply delete the message if you are certain it’s bogus. The addresses used in the fraudulent emails were clearly not from Instagram, but at a glance, some can were deceiving.
If you would like more in-depth information about phishing, we strongly recommend you check out New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell