Page 22 - Banking Finance July 2024

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to instill a sense of urgency using intense language and Additionally, payment wallet or company urges users to
scare tactics, starting with the email's subject line. report any suspicious activity to them, so they can continue
Common themes among phishing emails are that to monitor these attempts and prevent their users from
something sensitive, such as a credit card number or getting scammed.
an account, has been compromised. This is done to
induce the recipient into responding quickly, without Attack based on financing
recognizing the signs of a scam. These are common forms of phishing, and it operates on the
2) The message might use sub-domain, misspelled URLs assumption that victims will panic into giving the personal
also known as typo squatting or otherwise suspicious information to scamster. Usually, in these cases, the
URLs. scammer deceives as a bank or other financial institution.
In an email or phone call, the scammer informs their
3) The recipient might use a public email address rather
than a corporate email address. potential victim that their security has been compromised.
Often, scammers will use the threat of identity theft to
4) The message might be written to invoke fear or a sense successfully do just that.
of urgency, so that a mistake might be committed by
receiver without establishing sanctity of source.
A few examples of this scam can be:
5) The message includes a request to share and verify Suspicious emails about money transfers that will confuse
personal information, such as financial details or a the victim. In these phishing attempts, the potential victim
password. receives an email that contains a receipt or rejection email
6) The message is poorly drafted with improper framing of regarding a charge debit transaction. Often, the victim who
sentences and has spelling and grammatical errors, etc. sees this email will instantly assume fraudulent charges have
been made in their account and click a mala fide link in the
Ways of Phishing Attacks message. This will leave their personal data vulnerable to
being mined.
Scam based on payment using digital channels
If a user is unsure of how to spot a fraudulent online-
Direct deposit scams are often used on new employees of a
payment phishing email, there are a few details to look out
company or business. In these scams, the victims receive a
for. Generally, a phishing email is known to include:
Dodgy greetings that do not include the victim's name. mail that their login information is not working. Anxious
Official emails from company will always address users by about not getting paid, the victims click a "phishing" link in
their actual name or business title. Phishing attempts in this the email. This will lead the victim to a spoof website that
sector tend to begin with "Dear user," or use an email installs malware to their system. From there, their banking
address instead. information is vulnerable to harvesting, leading to fraudulent
charges.
In the case of online payment some services, some of these
scams "alert" their potential victims to the fact that their Work related phishing
account will soon be suspended. Others claim that users This type of scam can be very personalized and hard to spot.
were accidentally "overpaid" and now need to send money In these cases, an attacker purporting to be the recipient's
back to a fake account. boss, CEO or CFO contacts the victim, and requests a wire
transfer or a fake purchase.
Downloadable attachments are not something that
companies sends to its users. If a person receives an email One work-related scam that has been popping up around
from company or another similar service that includes an businesses in the last couple of years is a ploy to harvest
attachment, they should not download it. passwords. This scam often targets executive-level
employees, since they are likely not considering that an
If a person receives one of these emails, they should open email from their boss could be a scam. The fraudulent email
their payment page on a separate browser tab or window often works because, instead of being alarmist, it simply talks
and see if their account has any alerts. If a user has been about regular workplace subjects. Usually, it informs the
overpaid or is facing suspension, it will say so there. victim that a scheduled meeting needs to be changed.

20 | 2024 | JULY | BANKING FINANCE