How To Identify A Dodgy Link

WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IF YOU CLICKED ON A DODGY LINK

I think we’ve all done it but nowadays these hackers are more deceptive and conniving than they used to be.

I used to say, “I’ll never get caught out, I can spot a hacker a mile off!”

Well, Last Week I Fell Victim To That Very Thing

I received an email from 123-reg, my domain providers. Now, these hackers are chancers, they send out millions of these emails to random people, most recipients won’t even be 123-reg customers, but the email told me my domain was up for renewal.

I panicked although I knew it wasn’t.

And that’s what they want! The intention of the email to is to instil fear that something bad will happen if you don’t take immediate action!

I fell victim.

I usually don’t fall foul to these, but panic set in.

What I should've done was either one of these:

1) Hover over the link and look at the link at the bottom left corner of the screen – it shows you where the link goes! If it’s not genuine it will be a real mash of characters.

2) Log into 123-reg on another browser window and check my account.

Both of these two options would have avoided a very costly (both in time and money) route to keeping my computer protected.

When I followed said (unbeknownst) bad link and logged into my account all looked normal until I navigated to my account page and I got an error message.

My heart sank.

I Knew Exactly What Had Happened

I went back to the email and hovered over the link and it confirmed to me that it was, in fact, a dodgy link.

Luckily, I knew what to do.

I closed all browser windows, and shut down my computer.

I’m also lucky enough to have a second computer. I logged in there and immediately changed my password.

I then set up every single account I have with 2-factor-authentication where I could and also bought an anti-virus programme that allows me to protect up to 5 devices.

It was a costly experience, but now I feel more protected and perhaps should’ve done this ages ago but I just thought that 2FA was a bit of a faff.

Now I know that losing all that is more of a faff than 2FA will ever be!

Back on track now!

Clearing the clutter from your email inbox is also a really good way to ensure you don’t click on dodgy links. If it’s not in your inbox you won’t be subjected to them.

Find out how to go from:

Total overwhelm because you can’t find the important stuff amongst your emails,

Fear of opening your emails because of the sheer volume and;

Out of control as you don’t know how to deal with it

To being:

In control as I teach you how to start the process, step-by-step;

Thinking rationally about the FOMO of how these people get you to sign up in the first place and;

Calm as you take back control of your inbox.

Read my advice on how to rid your inbox of unwanted subscribed newsletters, unwanted emails and spam.

A Final Word

I would always encourage you to report a phishing email in any case. A ‘Phishing’ email is where someone is trying to scam you by making you believe it’s an email from your bank, building society or other financial institution, such as the Football Pools, National Lottery or Premium Bonds. The initial email may appear to be quite helpful but if you engage in it, the sender will eventually have the intention of trying to scam money from you.

Most of these emails will be a dead giveaway as these scammers target thousands, even millions of email addresses every day and most of them won’t relate to you. For instance, you receive an email purporting to be from Barclays but you only bank with Lloyds. However, there may be a time when you do receive an email from Lloyds Bank and the email subject line panics you to doing something now and that’s what they want from you.

For more information on identifying spam and phishing emails, click here.

https://uwaterloo.ca/pharmacy/resources-services-and-initiatives/pharmacy-it-knowledge-base/how-identify-spam-and-phishing-emails (I include the whole link so you can see where it goes) 😊