Do’s and Don’ts for Securing Yourself Against Phishing

Let us look at some things that you should do and some that you should not to secure yourself against phishing:

The Do’s

Verify if from a known person or company

In case the suspicious message is from a friend or relative, or seemingly from your own company, contact the person whom you know through a phone call to clarify whether they are the ones who have sent the text.
Check the email address

Mostly, the email address from which a phishing email is shared has a spelling error, appears to have a duplicate name, or is suspicious.

If a link sent on email or message looks suspicious, hover on the link. Don’t click on the link.
Always set up two-factor authentication

Set-up two-factor authentication for your net banking account, social media accounts, and email accounts. In this method, after you enter the password and login ID in a website, you’re also asked to verify your identity through an OTP sent to your phone.
Change your passwords every 90 days

It is a good practice to use passwords that are difficult to guess. Good passwords are long, i.e. between 10-15 characters and will include:

– Capital letters and small case letters
– Numbers
– Symbols, like @,#,$,%,&
Remove your personal information from social media

Remove information about your address, phone number, or any other personal detail from your social media accounts
Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry (NDNCR)

NDNCR will block most incoming spam calls and messages on your phone. Send an SMS that says “START0” to the number 1909

The Don’ts

Don’t get excited and click on links in suspicious messages from unknown numbers.

These could be fraud messages that can steal your personal and banking information.

Look at the links first and ensure that they start with the name of the actual company whose logo has been used.
Never click on links that begin with an HTTP:// address.

Only place trust in websites that start with an HTTPS://; the ‘s’ in HTTPS:// stands for ‘secure’
Never respond to phishing emails

Or click on the links provided in the message. Immediately delete the message once it is confirmed to be spam.

Here are some key takeaways from this section that you should remember.

You can keep yourself safe from phishing by following the safety best practices of coming across a phishing email.
If an email or message looks suspicious, don’t click on any link. Delete it immediately after marking it spam.
Set-up two-factor authentication for your net banking account, social media accounts, and email accounts.

You must always ensure that you follow all safety practices to protect yourself from any phishing attack. But what if you still fall prey to one?

Don’t worry, go to the next section and learn about what to do in case your information has been compromised to a phishing attack.

Learn about what to do in case your information has been compromised to a phishing attack in the next section