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It’s no longer possible to deny that your life in the physical world and your digital life are one and the same. Coming to terms with this reality will help you make better decisions in many aspects of your life.
The same identity you use at work, at home, and with friends also exists in apps, inboxes, accounts, devices, and databases, whether you actively post online or prefer to stay quiet. Every purchase, login, location ping, and message leaves a trail. And that trail shapes what people, companies, and scammers can learn about you, how they can reach you, and what they might try to take.
That’s why digital security isn’t just an IT or a “tech person” problem. It’s a daily life skill. When you understand how your digital life works, what information you’re sharing, where it’s stored, and how it can be misused, you make better decisions. This guide is designed to help you build that awareness and translate it into practical habits: protecting your data, securing your accounts, and staying in control of your privacy in a world that’s always connected.
Being digitally secure doesn’t mean hiding from the internet or using complicated tools you don’t understand. It means having intentional control over your digital life to reduce risks while still being able to live, work, and communicate online safely. A digitally secure person focuses on four interconnected areas:
Your personal data is the foundation of your digital identity. Protecting it includes limiting how much data you share, understanding where it’s stored, and reducing how easily it can be collected, sold, or stolen. At its heart, personal information falls into two critical categories that require different levels of protection:
Account security ensures that only you can access them. Strong, unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, and secure recovery options prevent criminals from hijacking your email, banking, cloud storage, social media, and other online accounts, often the gateway to everything else in your digital life.
Privacy control means setting boundaries and deciding who can see what about you, and under what circumstances. This includes managing social media visibility, app permissions, browser tracking, and third-party access to your data.
Digital security is an ongoing effort as threats evolve, platforms change their policies, and new technologies introduce new risks. Staying digitally secure requires periodic check-ins, learning to recognize scams and manipulation, and adjusting your habits as the digital landscape changes.
Your personal information faces exposure risks through multiple channels during routine digital activities, often without your explicit knowledge.
Implementing comprehensive personal data protection requires a systematic approach that addresses the common exposure points. These practical steps provide layers of security that work together to minimize your exposure to identity theft and fraud.
Start by conducting a thorough audit of your online accounts and subscriptions to identify where you have unnecessarily shared more data than needed. Remove or minimize details that aren’t essential for the service to function. Moving forward, provide only the minimum required information to new accounts and avoid linking them across different platforms unless necessary.
Be particularly cautious with loyalty programs, surveys, and promotional offers that ask for extensive personal information, as they may share it with third parties. Read privacy policies carefully, focusing on sections that describe data sharing, retention periods, and your rights regarding your personal information.
If possible, consider using separate email addresses for different accounts to limit cross-platform tracking and reduce the impact if one account is compromised. Create dedicated email addresses for shopping, social media, newsletters, and important accounts like banking and healthcare.
Privacy protection requires regular attention to your account settings across all platforms and services you use. Social media platforms frequently update their privacy policies and settings, often defaulting to less private configurations that allow them to collect and share your data. For this reason, it is a good idea to review your privacy settings at least quarterly. Limit who can see your posts, contact information, and friend lists. Disable location tracking, facial recognition, and advertising customization features that rely on your personal data. Turn off automatic photo tagging and prevent search engines from indexing your profile.
On Google accounts, visit your Activity Controls and disable Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History to stop this data from being saved. You can even opt out of ad personalization entirely if desired by adjusting Google Ad Settings. If you are more tech savvy, Google Takeout allows you to export and review what data Google has collected about you.
For Apple ID accounts, you can navigate to System Preferences on Mac or Settings on iOS devices to disable location-based Apple ads, limit app tracking, and review which apps have access to your contacts, photos, and other personal data.
Meanwhile, Amazon accounts store extensive purchase history, voice recordings from Alexa devices, and browsing behavior. Review your privacy settings to limit data sharing with third parties, delete voice recordings, and manage your advertising preferences.
Regularly audit the permissions you’ve granted to installed applications. Many apps request far more permissions to your location, contacts, camera, and microphone even though they don’t need them. Cancel these unnecessary permissions, and be particularly cautious about granting access to sensitive data.
Create passwords that actually protect you; they should be long and complex enough that even sophisticated attacks can’t easily break them. Combine uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters to make it harder for attackers to crack.
Aside from passwords, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on your most critical accounts: banking and financial services, email, cloud storage, social media, work, and healthcare. Use authenticator apps such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy rather than SMS-based authentication when possible, as text messages can be intercepted through SIM swapping attacks. When setting up MFA, ensure you save backup codes in a secure location and register multiple devices when possible to keep you from being locked out of your accounts if your primary authentication device is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Alternatively, many services now offer passkeys which use cryptographic keys stored on your device, providing stronger security than passwords while being more convenient to use. Consider adopting passkeys for accounts that support them, particularly for your most sensitive accounts.
Device encryption protects your personal information if your smartphone, tablet, or laptop is lost, stolen, or accessed without authorization. Modern devices typically offer built-in encryption options that are easy to enable and don’t noticeably impact performance.
You can implement automatic backup systems such as secure cloud storage services, and ensure backup data is protected. iOS users can utilize encrypted iCloud backups, while Android users should enable Google backup with encryption. Regularly test your backup systems to ensure they’re working correctly and that you can successfully restore your data when needed.
Identify major data brokers that likely have your information and look for their privacy policy or opt-out procedures, which often involves submitting a request with your personal information and waiting for confirmation that your data has been removed.
In addition, review your subscriptions and memberships to identify services you no longer use. Request account deletion rather than simply closing accounts, as many companies retain data from closed accounts. When requesting deletion, ask specifically for all personal data to be removed from their systems, including backups and archives.
Keep records of your opt-out and deletion requests, and follow up if you don’t receive confirmation within the stated timeframe. In the United States, key data broker companies include Acxiom, LexisNexis, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, and PeopleFinder. Visit each company’s website.
Connect only to trusted, secure networks to reduce the risk of your data being intercepted by attackers lurking behind unsecured or fake Wi-Fi connections. Avoid logging into sensitive accounts on public networks in coffee shops, airports, or hotels, and use encrypted connections such as HTTPS or a virtual private network to hide your IP address and block third parties from monitoring your online activities.
Rather than using a free VPN service that often collects and sells your data to generate revenue, it is better to choose a premium, reputable VPN service that doesn’t log your browsing activities and offers servers in multiple locations.
Cyber threats evolve constantly, privacy policies change, and new services collect different types of personal information, making personal data protection an ongoing process rather than a one-time task. Here are measures to help regularly maintain your personal data protection:
By implementing these systematic approaches and maintaining regular attention to your privacy settings and data sharing practices, you significantly reduce your risk of identity theft and fraud while maintaining greater control over your digital presence and personal information.
You don’t need to dramatically overhaul your entire digital security in one day, but you can start making meaningful improvements right now. Taking action today, even small steps, builds the foundation for stronger personal data protection and peace of mind in your digital life. Choose one critical account, update its password, enable multi-factor authentication, and you’ll already be significantly more secure than you were this morning. Your future self will thank you for taking these proactive steps to protect what matters most to you.
Every step you take toward better privacy protection strengthens your overall digital security and reduces your risk of becoming a victim of scams, identity theft, or unwanted surveillance. You’ve already taken the first step by learning about digital security risks and solutions. Now it’s time to put that knowledge into action with practical steps that fit seamlessly into your digital routine.
The post What Does It Take To Be Digitally Secure? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Every four years, scores of American people flood churches, schools, homes, and auditoriums to cast their ballots for the future of American leadership. But amid the highs and lows of election night, there is an ongoing conversation about how the votes are being counted.
As results slowly roll in, voters struggle with long lines and faulty machinery in key battleground states, prompting debates on the efficiency of the U.S. voting process. In an age where American Idol results can be instantaneously transmitted over a mobile device, why are we still feeding paper ballots into machines that look like props from ‘90s movies?
On the one hand, countries like Canada, Norway and Australia have already experienced success with their adoption of online voting systems, and proponents say going digital will boost voter turnout and Election Day efficiency. On the other, naysayers cite hacking, malware, and other security threats as deal-breakers that could threaten the backbone of American democracy.
So what are the facts behind this debate? Below, we’ve outlined key arguments for and against online, email, and electronic voting systems, to help users at home move beyond the pre-election campaign hype.
Since there have been elections, there have been people tampering with votes. Given this, experts are justifiably concerned with any technology that could introduce new points of access to the data stored during an election. Nevertheless, a handful of states now use electronic voting machines exclusively—Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey and South Carolina—and even notorious battleground states Ohio and Florida have made the move toward paperless votes.
The concern is that when there is no physical ballot, it becomes next to impossible to determine if there has been tampering—especially in the case of a close election. The contested 2000 Bush-Gore race comes to mind as an example of the stark importance of reliable election machinery. In 2012, Pennsylvania voting machines were taken out of service after being captured on video changing votes from one candidate to another.
Still, most of these machines now supply a paper trail to guard against tampering, and a vast majority undergo frequent, mandatory testing. The machines are also not connected to the Internet and are segregated from any network-connected devices. In terms of physical security, the machines themselves are secured with locks and tamper-evident seals, and they’re heavily protected when transported to and from polling places.
While electronic voting promises efficiency and convenience, the reality is that these systems face significant vulnerabilities that make them easy targets for hacking.
Attackers don’t need to hack every voting machine individually. They only need to target the broader voting ecosystem through several key attack vectors. For one, supply chain risks represent one of the most concerning threats, where malicious components or software can be introduced during manufacturing or updates. Misconfigured systems and outdated firmware create entry points that cybercriminals actively seek out, while exposed network ports can provide side-channel access to supposedly isolated voting infrastructure.
Beyond direct machine tampering, sophisticated attacks focus on ballot definition files—the digital templates that determine how votes are recorded and counted. Manipulating these files can alter election outcomes without voters realizing it. Similarly, result reporting systems that transmit vote tallies from polling locations to central counting facilities present attractive targets for those seeking to disrupt electoral processes.
Recent security research demonstrates these vulnerabilities aren’t theoretical. In 2003, cybersecurity researchers at Johns Hopkins University documented significant security gaps in widely used electronic voting systems during controlled testing environments, revealing that basic network intrusion techniques could compromise vote tallies without detection. Meanwhile, a 2022 audit conducted by election security experts in Georgia identified configuration errors in electronic polling systems that could have allowed unauthorized access to voter data and ballot information.
Perhaps more concerning is how disinformation campaigns around unofficial election results can amplify doubts about electoral integrity, regardless of actual system security. These campaigns often spread false information about electronic voting fraud or online voting hack attempts, creating confusion that undermines public trust in legitimate election outcomes.
It’s crucial to understand that the primary impact of these vulnerabilities often isn’t direct vote manipulation—it’s the erosion of voter confidence in our democratic processes. When people doubt that their votes count accurately, it weakens the foundation of democratic participation.
Will our presidential elections ever go the way of American Idol? Despite advances in technology, the vast majority of Americans must vote in person or via mail-in ballot. At present, only very limited electronic voting options exist, primarily for specific voter groups and circumstances, such as:
Understanding the vulnerabilities that plague electronic voting systems isn’t about creating fear, but about building stronger defenses. Below, we have listed some of the potential attack vectors to help you make informed decisions about digital democracy.
In email voting, unencrypted emails pose a serious security risk because they can be easily intercepted, spoofed, or altered in transit. When a ballot is sent without encryption, it travels across networks in plain text, allowing cybercriminals to access and modify its contents before it reaches election officials. Attackers also might impersonate legitimate voters by sending forged emails or inject malware into attachments that appear to be ballots.
Computers used to send or receive the emails can be compromised to change or block a voter’s choices. When you cast your ballot online, malware can intercept your vote before it even leaves your device. In addition, the receiving computer will need to open attachments sent by unknown users to tally the votes, one of the most common causes of malware infections.
Phishing attacks specifically target voting credentials, often through fake election websites or deceptive emails. Multi-factor authentication and government-issued digital certificates provide essential barriers. In 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released its Digital Identity Guidelines that recommended biometric verification combined with secure tokens for high-stakes digital transactions like voting.
Your vote travels across networks where attackers might intercept or modify it. To thwart these attacks and ensure your ballot remains tamper-proof during transmission, end-to-end encryption with cryptographic signatures can be integrated into online voting systems. Advanced protocols such as homomorphic encryption allow vote counting without exposing individual choices.
Voting servers face constant attack attempts. Independent security audits, isolated network environments, and blockchain-based verification systems can help maintain integrity. Regular penetration testing, as recommended in the Election Assistance Commission’s 2023 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, identifies weaknesses before they’re exploited.
DDoS attacks can overwhelm voting portals during critical periods. Distributed server architecture, traffic filtering, and backup submission methods could ensure continuous access, while cloud-based solutions provide scalable protection against volume-based attacks.
Online systems must balance verification with privacy. Protocols such as zero-knowledge proof could allow voters to confirm that their ballot was counted without revealing their choices. Anonymous credential systems separate voter identity from vote content.
Digital voting requires verifiable paper trails or cryptographic receipts. This can be addressed with voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) and risk-limiting audits that provide the transparency necessary for public confidence.
In this digital age, threats to the voting process start well before election day. Cybercriminals take advantage of the campaign fever when citizens turn to technology for updates on the election process or news about running candidates.
Amid all this, your role as a voter includes staying informed about these protections and choosing secure voting methods when available or legitimate information sources. Democracy thrives when citizens understand both the possibilities and precautions of digital participation.
Every voter plays a role in ensuring elections remain fair, secure, and transparent. By following proper voting procedures, verifying information through official sources, and reporting suspicious activity, you help strengthen trust in the system. Small actions can make a big difference in protecting the integrity of every vote.
Practicing good cybersecurity hygiene helps safeguard not only your information but also the integrity of democratic participation. Here are some key guidelines to stay secure online and protect your vote.
These multi-layered protections work together to maintain election integrity, though gaps can emerge when procedures aren’t consistently followed or when oversight is insufficient.
While online voting systems can’t be written off, ongoing cybersecurity challenges don’t bode well for the immediate future of these platforms.
While technology has transformed nearly every aspect of modern life—from shopping to banking, and working—applying that convenience to the voting booth still presents challenges. Security, transparency, and public trust remain at the core of any democratic process, and rushing toward online or paperless voting without upholding these principles could be harmful.
Progress is steadily being made, however, with advances in encryption and digital identity frameworks. With careful design, rigorous testing, and strong oversight, technology can enhance the safeguards that underpin election integrity.
For now, the most effective way to protect democracy is through awareness and participation. Stay informed about your state’s voting systems, verify election information only through official sources, and remain alert to misinformation and scams. Each responsible voter plays a part in strengthening the integrity of elections.
The post Hack the Vote: Pros and Cons of Electronic Voting appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Social media platforms connect you to thousands of people worldwide. But while these platforms offer incredible opportunities for bonding, learning, and entertainment, they also present personal security challenges. Navigating them safely requires being aware of risks and proactively protecting your accounts.
The three most common risks you’ll encounter are privacy exposure, account takeover, and scams. Privacy exposure occurs when your personal information becomes visible to unintended audiences, potentially leading to identity theft, stalking, or professional damage. You have control over your social media security. By implementing safe social media practices, you can dramatically reduce your risk exposure.
This guide rounds up 15 practical, everyday tips to help you secure your accounts and use them more safely. It covers smart posting habits, safer clicking and app-permission choices, stronger privacy settings, and core security basics like using updated browsers, reliable protection tools, and identity-theft safeguards—so you can enjoy social media without making yourself an easy target.
Before we dive in, we want to remind you first that our strongest recommendation amid anything and everything unsolicited, unusual, or suspicious on social media is this: verify, verify, verify through separate communication channels such as phone, email, and official websites.
Not a day goes by when we don’t hear about a new hack. With 450,000 new pieces of malware released to the internet every day, security never sleeps. For your increased awareness, here’s a short list of the most common social media scams:
Social media is quite engaging, with all the funny status updates, photos, and comments. However, all these bits of information can reveal more about you than you intended to disclose. The examples below might be extreme, but they are real-world scenarios that continue to happen to real people daily on social media:
Oversharing on social media creates significant risks that extend beyond embarrassment or regret. Identity thieves actively monitor social platforms for personal information they can use to answer security questions, predict passwords, or impersonate you in social engineering attacks.
Avoid publicly answering questionnaires with details like your middle name, as this is the type of information financial institutions—and identity thieves—may use to verify your identity.
Third-party apps with excessive permissions can access your personal data, post to social media at any time on your behalf, or serve as entry points for attackers, regardless of whether you’re using the application. To limit app access and reduce your attack surface significantly, review all apps and services connected to your social media accounts. Revoke permissions to applications you no longer use or don’t remember authorizing.
Shortened links can be exploited in social media phishing attacks as they hide the final destination URL, making it difficult for you to determine where it actually leads. These tactics mimic legitimate communications from trusted sources and come in the form of direct messages, comments, sponsored posts, and fake verification alerts, all in an effort to steal your personal information, login credentials, or financial details. Often, these attacks appear as urgent messages claiming your account will be suspended or fake prize notifications.
When you identify phishing attempts, immediately report and block the suspicious accounts using the platform’s built-in reporting features. This will protect not only you but other users on the platform.
If the link is posted by a product seller or service provider, it is a good idea to:
You might think the video or link relates directly to you. But when you click it, you get a message saying that you need to upgrade your video player in order to see the clip. When you attempt to download the “upgrade,” the malicious page will instead install malware that tracks and steals your data. As mentioned, don’t click suspicious links or download files from unknown sources before verifying independently. Visit the official websites by directly typing the URL yourself or using trusted search engines.
This also brings us to the related topic of being tagged on other people’s content. If you don’t want certain content to be associated with you, adjust the settings that enable you to review posts and photos before they appear on your profile. This allows you to maintain control over your digital presence and prevents embarrassing or inappropriate content associations.
If one of your friends posts, “We’re stuck in Cambodia and need money,” keep your radar up as it’s most likely a scam. It is possible that a scammer has taken over your friend’s account, and is using it to impersonate them, spread malicious content, or extract sensitive information from their contacts, including you. Don’t engage with this post or the fraudster, otherwise the next account takeover could be yours.
In this kind of scam, some critical areas of your life are affected:
When you encounter suspicious activity, always use official support pages rather than responding to questionable messages. Major social media platforms provide dedicated help centers and verified contact methods.
Select the most secure options and check periodically for changes that can open up your profile to the public. Depending on your preference and the privacy level you are comfortable with, you can choose from these options:
We suggest that you review your privacy settings every three months, as platforms frequently update their policies and default settings. While you are at it, take the opportunity to audit your friend lists and remove inactive or suspicious accounts.
Posting real-time locations or check-ins can alert potential stalkers to your whereabouts and routine patterns, while geo-tagged photos can reveal where you live, study, work, shop, or work out. Location sharing creates patterns that criminals can exploit for security threats such as stalking, harassment, and other physical crimes.
To avoid informing scammers of your whereabouts, turn off location tagging in your social media apps and avoid posting about your routine. You might also consider disabling “last seen” or “active now” indicators that show when you’re online. This prevents others from monitoring your social media activity patterns and reduces unwanted contact attempts, significantly improving your personal and family safety while maintaining your ability to share experiences.
Older browsers tend to have more security flaws and often don’t recognize newer scam patterns, while updated versions are crucial for security by patching vulnerabilities. Updates add or improve privacy controls such as tracking prevention, cookie partitioning, third-party cookie blocking, stronger HTTPS enforcement, transparent permission prompts. They also support newer HTML/CSS/JavaScript features, video and audio codecs, payment and login standards, and accessibility features.
In terms of performance, new browser versions offer faster performance, better memory management, and more efficient rendering, so you get fewer freezes, less fan noise, and longer battery life and better extension compatibility.
Consider using password managers, which can create and store secure passwords for you. Never reuse passwords across platforms. This practice ensures that if one account is compromised, your other accounts remain secure. Password managers also help you monitor for breached credentials and update passwords regularly.
In addition, implement multi-factor authentication (MFA)on every social media account using authenticator apps. This single step can protect social media accounts from 99% of automated attacks. MFA enforcement should be non-negotiable for both personal and business accounts, as it adds critical security that makes account takeovers exponentially more difficult.
Scammers build fake login pages that look identical to real ones. The only obvious difference is usually the domain. They want you to type your username/password into their site, so they can steal it. So if you’re visiting a Facebook page, make sure you look for the https://www.facebook.com address.
The rule is to read the domain from right to left because the real domain is usually the last two meaningful segments before the slash. For instance, https://security.facebook.com—read from right to left—is legitimate because the main domain is facebook.com, and “security” is just a subdomain.
Watch out for scam patterns such as:
Within the social media platform, scammers often insert a “second” sign-in step to capture your credentials. A common trick is sending you to a page that looks like a normal email, business, or bank website but then suddenly asks you to log in again “to continue,” “to verify your identity,” or “because your session expired.” That extra login prompt is frequently a fake overlay or a malicious look-alike page designed to steal passwords.
Clicking a shared document link, viewing a receipt, or checking a delivery status usually shouldn’t require you to re-enter your email and password—especially if you’re already signed in elsewhere. Another example is a fake security notification claiming your account has been compromised, directing you to another page or website that requires a new login. Attackers usually rely on urgency, panic, and habit; you might be so used to logging in all the time, that you could do it automatically without noticing the context is wrong.
A safer habit is to stop and reset the flow. If something unexpectedly asks for another login, don’t use the embedded prompt. Instead, open a new tab, type the site’s official address yourself, check account status, and log in there if needed. If the request was legitimate, it will still work once you’re signed in through the official site; if it was a trap, you’ve just avoided handing over your credentials.
Your suite should include an antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, a firewall, and a website safety advisor. Keeping your security suite up to date is essential as threats evolve daily, and outdated protection can miss new malware, phishing kits, ransomware variants, and scam techniques. Updates also patch security weaknesses in the software itself, improve detection technologies, and add protections for newer attack methods.
The McAfee Social Privacy Manager extends “security updates” beyond your device and into your social media footprint by scanning your privacy settings across supported platforms, flagging exposures, and recommending safer configurations. Because social platforms frequently change their settings and defaults, Social Privacy Manager also needs to stay updated to recognize and apply the right privacy protections.
Regardless of how careful you may be or any security systems you put in place, there is always a chance that you can be compromised in some way. It’s nice to have identity theft protection watching your back.
McAfee+ combines every day device security with identity monitoring in one suite. Depending on the plan, McAfee+ can watch for your personal info on the dark web and breach databases, monitor financial and credit activity, and send real-time alerts for anomalies. The Advanced and Ultimate plans add wider support such as credit monitoring and tracking for bank or investment accounts, as well as tools that reduce your exposure such as Personal Data Cleanup that removes your info from data broker sites. It doesn’t just warn you after a breach; it helps shrink the chances your data gets misused in the first place.
Social media brings incredible opportunities, but privacy exposure, scams, and account takeovers remain real challenges that can impact your finances, reputation, and personal security. The tips outlined above give you practical ways to recognize the risks and protect your social media accounts. By raising your level of awareness and applying safe social media practices, you are building a stronger defense against evolving threats.
Make security a family affair by sharing these safe social media practices with everyone in your household—especially children and teens who use social media—so they can enjoy a safer experience.
The post 15 Critical Tips to Stay Safe on Social Media appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Unfortunately, scammers today are coming at us from all angles, trying to trick us into giving up our hard-earned money. We all need to be vigilant in protecting ourselves online. If you aren’t paying attention, even if you know what to look for, they can still catch you off guard. There are numerous ways to detect fake sites, phishing, and other scams, including emails.
Before we delve into the signs of fake websites, we will first take a closer look at the common types of scams that use websites, what happens when you accidentally access a fake website, and what you can do in case you unknowingly purchased items from it.
Fake or scam websites are fraudulent sites that look legitimate while secretly attempting to steal your personal information, money, or account access.
These deceptive platforms masquerade as trustworthy businesses or organizations, sending urgent messages that appear to be from popular shopping websites offering fantastic limited-time deals, banking websites requesting immediate account verification, government portals claiming you owe taxes or are eligible for refunds, and shipping companies asking for delivery fees.
The urgency aims to trick you into logging in and sharing sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security details, login credentials, and personal data. Once you submit your data, the scammers will steal your identity, drain your accounts, or sell your details to other criminals on the dark web.
These scam websites have become increasingly prevalent because they’re relatively inexpensive to create and can reach millions of potential victims quickly through email and text campaigns, social media ads, and search engine manipulation.
Cybersecurity researchers and consumer protection agencies discover these fraudulent sites through various methods, including monitoring suspicious domain registrations, analyzing reported phishing attempts, and tracking unusual web traffic patterns. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, losses from cyber-enabled fraud totaled $13.7 billion, with fake websites accounting for a significant portion of these losses.
Visiting a fake website, accidentally or intentionally, can expose you to several serious security risks that can impact your digital life and financial well-being:
Scammers employ various tactics to create fake websites that appear authentic, but most of these techniques follow familiar patterns. Knowing the main types of scam sites helps you recognize danger faster. This section lists the most common categories of scam websites, explains how they operate, and identifies the red flags that alert you before they can steal your information or money.
Understanding these common scam types helps you recognize fake sites before they can steal your information or money. When in doubt, verify legitimacy by visiting official websites directly through bookmarks or search engines rather than clicking suspicious links.
For the latest warnings and protection guidance, check resources from the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
You can protect yourself by learning to recognize the warning signs of fake sites. By understanding what these scams look like and how they operate, you’ll be better equipped to shop, bank, and browse online with confidence. Remember, legitimate companies will never pressure you to provide sensitive information through unsolicited emails or urgent pop-up messages.
Most scams typically start with social engineering tactics, such as phishing, smishing, and fake social media messages containing suspicious links, before directing you to a fake website.
From these communications, the scammers impersonate legitimate organizations before finally executing their malevolent intentions. To avoid being tricked, it is essential to recognize the warning signs wherever you encounter them.
Fake emails are among the most common phishing attempts you’ll encounter. If you see any of these signs in an unsolicited email, it is best not to engage:
Smishing messages bear the same signs as phishing emails and have become increasingly sophisticated. These fake messages often appear to come from delivery services, banks, or government agencies. Common tactics include fake package delivery notifications, urgent banking alerts, or messages claiming you’ve won prizes or need to verify account information.
Legitimate organizations typically don’t include clickable links in unsolicited text messages, especially for account-related actions. When in doubt, don’t click the link—instead, open your banking app directly or visit the official website by typing the URL manually.
Social media platforms give scammers new opportunities to create convincing fake profiles and pages. They might impersonate customer service accounts, create fake giveaways, or send direct messages requesting personal information. These fake sites often use profile pictures and branding that closely resemble legitimate companies.
Unusual sender behavior is another indicator of a scam across all platforms. This includes messages from contacts you haven’t heard from in years, communications from brands you don’t typically interact with, or requests that seem out of character for the supposed sender.
Scammers have become increasingly cunning in creating fake websites that closely mimic legitimate businesses and services. Here are some real-life examples of how cybercriminals use fake websites to victimize consumers:
Scammers exploit your trust in the United States Postal Service (USPS), designing sophisticated fake websites to steal your personal information, payment details, or money. They know you’re expecting a package or need to resolve a delivery issue, making you more likely to enter sensitive information without carefully verifying the site’s authenticity.
USPS-themed smishing attacks arrive as text messages stating your package is delayed, undeliverable, or requires immediate action. Common phrases include “Pay $1.99 to reschedule delivery” or “Your package is held – click here to release.”
Scammers use various URL manipulation techniques to make their fake sites appear official. Watch for these red flags:
Always verify package information and delivery issues through official USPS channels before taking any action on suspicious websites or messages:
Reporting fake USPS websites helps protect others from falling victim to these scams and assists law enforcement in tracking down perpetrators.
Remember that legitimate USPS services are free for standard delivery confirmation and tracking. Any website demanding payment for basic package tracking or delivery should be treated as suspicious and verified through official USPS channels before providing any personal or financial information.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, tech support scams cost Americans nearly $1.5 billion in 2024. These types of social engineering attacks are increasingly becoming sophisticated, making it more important than ever to verify security alerts through official channels.
Sadly, many scammers are misusing the McAfee name to create fake tech support pop-up scams and trick you into believing your computer is infected or your protection has expired, and hoping you’ll act without thinking.
These pop-ups typically appear while you’re browsing and claim your computer is severely infected with viruses, malware, or other threats. They use official-looking McAfee logos, colors, and messaging to appear legitimate to get you to call a fake support number, download malicious software, or pay for unnecessary services.
Learning to detect fake sites and pop-ups protects you from scams. Be on the lookout for these warning signs:
If you see a suspicious pop-up claiming to be from McAfee, here’s exactly what you should do:
To check if your McAfee protection is genuinely active and up-to-date:
Remember, legitimate McAfee software updates and notifications come through the installed program itself, not through random browser pop-ups. Your actual McAfee protection works quietly in the background without bombarding you with alarming messages.
Stay protected by trusting your installed McAfee software and always verifying security alerts through official McAfee channels, such as your installed McAfee dashboard or the official website.
Be prepared and know how to respond quickly when something doesn’t feel right. If you suspect you’ve encountered a fake website, trust your instincts and take these protective steps immediately.
Recognizing fake sites and emails becomes easier with practice. The key is to trust your instincts—if something feels suspicious or too good to be true, take a moment to verify through official channels. With the simple verification techniques covered in this guide, you can confidently navigate the digital world and spot fake sites and emails before they cause harm.
Your best defense is to make these quick security checks a regular habit—verify URLs, look for secure connections, and trust your instincts when something feels off. Go directly to the source or bookmark your most frequently used services and always navigate to them. Enable two-factor authentication on important accounts, and remember that legitimate companies will never ask for sensitive information via email. Maintaining healthy skepticism about unsolicited communications will protect not only your personal information but also help create a safer online environment for everyone.
For the latest information on fake websites and scams and to report them, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s scam alerts or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The post Ways to Tell if a Website Is Fake appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Chances are, you have more personal information posted online than you think.
In 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that 1.1 million identity theft complaints were filed, where $12.5 billion was lost to identity theft and fraud overall—a 25% increase over the year prior.
What fuels all this theft and fraud? Easy access to personal information.
Here’s one way you can reduce your chances of identity theft: remove your personal information from the internet.
Scammers and thieves can get a hold of your personal information in several ways, such as information leaked in data breaches, phishing attacks that lure you into handing it over, malware that steals it from your devices, or by purchasing your information on dark web marketplaces, just to name a few.
However, scammers and thieves have other resources and connections to help them commit theft and fraud—data broker sites, places where personal information is posted online for practically anyone to see. This makes removing your info from these sites so important, from both an identity and privacy standpoint.
Data broker sites are massive repositories of personal information that also buy information from other data brokers. As a result, some data brokers have thousands of pieces of data on billions of individuals worldwide.
What kind of data could they have on you? A broker may know how much you paid for your home, your education level, where you’ve lived over the years, who you’ve lived with, your driving record, and possibly your political leanings. A broker could even know your favorite flavor of ice cream and your preferred over-the-counter allergy medicine thanks to information from loyalty cards. They may also have health-related information from fitness apps. The amount of personal information can run that broadly, and that deeply.
With information at this level of detail, it’s no wonder that data brokers rake in an estimated $200 billion worldwide every year.
Your personal information reaches the internet through six primary methods, most of which are initiated by activities you perform on a daily basis. Understanding these channels can help you make more informed choices about your digital footprint.
When you buy a home, register to vote, get married, or start a business, government agencies create public records that contain your personal details. These records, once stored in filing cabinets, are now digitized, accessible online, and searchable by anyone with an internet connection.
Every photo you post, location you tag, and profile detail you share contributes to your digital presence. Even with privacy settings enabled, social media platforms collect extensive data about your behavior, relationships, and preferences. You may not realize it, but every time you share details with your network, you are training algorithms that analyze and categorize your information.
You create accounts with retailers, healthcare providers, employers, and service companies, trusting them to protect your information. However, when hackers breach these systems, your personal information often ends up for sale on dark web marketplaces, where data brokers can purchase it. The Identity Theft Research Center Annual Data Breach Report revealed that 2024 saw the second-highest number of data compromises in the U.S. since the organization began recording incidents in 2005.
When you browse, shop, or use apps, your online behavior is recorded by tracking pixels, cookies, and software development kits. The data collected—such as your location, device usage, and interests—is packaged and sold to data brokers who combine it with other sources to build a profile of you.
Grocery store cards, coffee shop apps, and airline miles programs offer discounts in exchange for detailed purchasing information. Every transaction gets recorded, analyzed, and often shared with third-party data brokers, who then create detailed lifestyle profiles that are sold to marketing companies.
Data brokers act as the hubs that collect information from various sources to create comprehensive profiles that may include over 5,000 data points per person. Seemingly separate pieces of information become a detailed digital dossier that reveals intimate details about your life, relationships, health, and financial situation.
Legally, your aggregated information from data brokers is used by advertisers to create targeted ad campaigns. In addition, law enforcement, journalists, and employers may use data brokers because the time-consuming pre-work of assembling your data has largely been done.
Currently, the U.S. has no federal laws that regulate data brokers or require them to remove personal information if requested. Only a few states, such as Nevada, Vermont, and California, have legislation that protects consumers. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has stricter rules about what information can be collected and what can be done with it.
On the darker side, scammers and thieves use personal information for identity theft and other forms of fraud. With enough information, they can create a high-fidelity profile of their victims to open new accounts in their name. For this reason, cleaning up your personal information online makes a great deal of sense.
Understanding efforts to remove personal information, which data types pose the greatest threat, can help you prioritize your removal efforts. Here are the high-risk personal details you should target first, ranked by their potential for harm.
When prioritizing your personal information removal efforts, focus on combinations of data rather than individual pieces. For example, your name alone poses minimal risk, but when combined with your address, phone number, and date of birth, it creates a comprehensive profile that criminals can exploit. Tools such as McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can help you identify and systematically remove these high-risk combinations from data broker sites.
This process takes time and persistence, but services such as McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can continuously monitor for new exposures and manage opt-out requests on your behalf. The key is to first understand the full scope of your online presence before beginning the removal process.
Let’s review some ways you can remove your personal information from data brokers and other sources on the internet.
Once you have found the sites that have your information, the next step is to request that it be removed. You can do this yourself or employ services such as McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup, which can help manage the removal for you depending on your subscription. It also monitors those sites, so if your info gets posted again, you can request its removal again.
You can request to remove your name from Google search to limit your information from turning up in searches. You can also enable “Auto Delete” in your privacy settings to ensure your data is regularly deleted. Occasionally, deleting your cookies or browsing in incognito mode prevents websites from tracking you. If Google denies your initial request, you can appeal using the same tool, providing more context, documentation, or legal grounds for removal. Google’s troubleshooter tool may explain why your request was denied—either legitimate public interest or newsworthiness—and how to improve your appeal.
It’s important to know that the original content remains on the source website. You’ll still need to contact website owners directly to have your actual content removed. Additionally, the information may still appear in other search engines.
If you have old, inactive accounts that have become obsolete, such as Myspace or Tumblr, you may want to deactivate or delete them entirely. For social media platforms that you use regularly, such as Facebook and Instagram, consider adjusting your privacy settings to keep your personal information to the bare minimum.
If you’ve ever published articles, written blogs, or created any content online, it is a good time to consider taking them down if they no longer serve a purpose. If you were mentioned or tagged by other people, it is worth requesting them to take down posts with sensitive information.
Another way to tidy up your digital footprint is to delete phone apps you no longer use, as hackers are able to track personal information on these and sell it. As a rule, share as little information with apps as possible using your phone’s settings.
After sending your removal request, give the search engine or source website 7 to 10 business days to respond initially, then follow up weekly if needed. If a website owner doesn’t respond within 30 days or refuses your request, you have several escalation options:
For comprehensive guidance on website takedown procedures and your legal rights, visit the FTC’s privacy and security guidance for the most current information on consumer data protection. Direct website contact can be time-consuming, but it’s often effective for removing information from smaller sites that don’t appear on major data broker opt-out lists. Stay persistent, document everything, and remember that you have legal rights to protect your privacy online.
After you’ve cleaned up your data from websites and social platforms, your web browsers may still save personal information, such as your browsing history, cookies, autofill data, saved passwords, and even payment methods. Clearing this information and adjusting your privacy settings helps prevent tracking, reduces targeted ads, and limits the amount of personal data websites can collect about you.
When your home address is publicly available, it can expose you to risks like identity theft, stalking, or targeted scams. Taking steps to remove or mask your address across data broker sites, public records, and even old social media profiles helps protect your privacy, reduce unwanted contact, and keep your personal life more secure.
The cost to remove your personal information from the internet varies, depending on whether you do it yourself or use a professional service. Read the guide below to help you make an informed decision:
Removing your information on your own primarily requires time investment. Expect to spend 20 to 40 hours looking for your information online and submitting removal requests. In terms of financial costs, most data brokers may not charge for opting out; however, other expenses could include certified mail fees for formal removal requests, which range from $3 to $8 per letter, and possibly notarization fees for legal documents. In total, this effort can be substantial when dealing with dozens of sites.
Depending on which paid removal and monitoring service you employ, basic plans typically range from $8 to $25 monthly, while annual plans, which often provide better value, range from $100 to $600. Premium services that monitor hundreds of data broker sites and provide ongoing removal can cost $1,200-$2,400 annually.
The difference in pricing is driven by several factors. This includes the number of data broker sites to be monitored, which could cover more than 200 sites, and the scope of removal requests, which may include basic personal information or comprehensive family protection. The monitoring frequency and additional features, such as dark web monitoring, credit protection, identity restoration support, and insurance coverage, typically command higher prices.
The upfront cost may seem significant, but continuous monitoring provides essential value. A McAfee survey revealed that 95% of consumers’ personal information ends up on data broker sites without their consent. It is possible that after the successful removal of your information, it may reappear on data broker sites without ongoing monitoring. This makes continuous protection far more cost-effective than repeated one-time cleanups.
Services such as McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can prove invaluable, as it handles the initial removal process, as well as ongoing monitoring to catch when your information resurfaces, saving you time and effort while offering long-term privacy protection.
Aside from the services above, comprehensive protection software can help safeguard your privacy and minimize your exposure to cybercrime with these offerings, such as:
So while it may seem like all this rampant collecting and selling of personal information is out of your hands, there’s plenty you can do to take control. With the steps outlined above and strong online protection software in place, you can keep your personal information more private and secure.
Unlike legitimate data broker sites, the dark web operates outside legal boundaries where takedown requests don’t apply. Rather than trying to remove information that’s already circulating, you can take immediate steps to reduce the potential harm and focus on preventing future exposure. A more effective approach is to treat data breaches as ongoing security issues rather than one-time events.
Both the FTC and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have released guidelines on proactive controls and continuous monitoring. Here are the key steps of those recommendations:
As you go about removing your information from the internet, it is important to set realistic expectations. Several factors may limit how completely you can remove personal data from internet sources:
While some states like California have stronger consumer privacy rights, most data removal still depends on voluntary compliance from companies.
Removing your personal information from the internet takes effort, but it’s one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from identity theft and privacy violations. The steps outlined above provide you with a clear roadmap to systematically reduce your online exposure, from opting out of data brokers to tightening your social media privacy settings.
This isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process that requires regular attention, as new data appears online constantly. Rather than attempting to completely erase your digital presence, focus on reducing your exposure to the most harmful uses of your personal information. Services like McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can help automate the most time-consuming parts of this process, monitoring high-risk data broker sites and managing removal requests for you.
The post How to Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Two-step verification, two-factor authentication, multi-factor authentication…whatever your social media platform calls it, it’s an excellent way to protect your accounts.
There’s a good chance you’re already using multi-factor verification with your other accounts — for your bank, your finances, your credit card, and any number of things. The way it requires an extra one-time code in addition to your login and password makes life far tougher for hackers.
It’s increasingly common to see nowadays, where all manner of online services only allow access to your accounts after you’ve provided a one-time passcode sent to your email or smartphone. That’s where two-step verification comes in. You get sent a code as part of your usual login process (usually a six-digit number), and then you enter that along with your username and password.
Some online services also offer the option to use an authenticator app, which sends the code to a secure app rather than via email or your smartphone. Authenticator apps work much in the same way, yet they offer three unique features:
Google, Microsoft, and others offer authenticator apps if you want to go that route. You can get a good list of options by checking out the “editor’s picks” at your app store or in trusted tech publications.
Whichever form of authentication you use, always keep that secure code to yourself. It’s yours and yours alone. Anyone who asks for that code, say someone masquerading as a customer service rep, is trying to scam you. With that code, and your username/password combo, they can get into your account.
Passwords and two-step verification work hand-in-hand to keep you safer. Yet not any old password will do. You’ll want a strong, unique password. Here’s how that breaks down:
Now, with strong passwords in place, you can get to setting up multi-factor verification on your social media accounts.
When you set up two-factor authentication on Facebook, you’ll be asked to choose one of three security methods:
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823
When you set up two-factor authentication on Instagram, you’ll be asked to choose one of three security methods: an authentication app, text message, or WhatsApp.
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://faq.whatsapp.com/1920866721452534
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
1. TapProfileat the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top.
3. Tap Settings and Privacy, then Security.
4. Tap 2-step verification and choose at least two verification methods: SMS (text), email, and authenticator app.
5. Tap Turn on to confirm.
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/personalized-ads-and-data/how-your-phone-number-is-used-on-tiktok
The post How to Protect Your Social Media Passwords with Multi-factor Verification appeared first on McAfee Blog.
How do you recognize phishing emails and texts? Even as many of the scammers behind them have sophisticated their attacks, you can still pick out telltale signs.
Common to them all, every phishing is a cybercrime that aims to steal your sensitive info. Personal info. Financial info. Other attacks go right for your wallet by selling bogus goods or pushing phony charities.
You’ll find scammers posing as major corporations, friends, business associates, and more. They might try to trick you into providing info like website logins, credit and debit card numbers, and even precious personal info like your Social Security Number.
Phishing scammers often undo their own plans by making simple mistakes that are easy to spot once you know how to recognize them. Check for the following signs of phishing when you open an email or check a text:
It’s poorly written.
Even the biggest companies sometimes make minor errors in their communications. Phishing messages often contain grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and other blatant errors that major corporations wouldn’t make. If you see glaring grammatical errors in an email or text that asks for your personal info, you might be the target of a phishing scam.
The logo doesn’t look right.
Phishing scammers often steal the logos of the businesses they impersonate. However, they don’t always use them correctly. The logo in a phishing email or text might have the wrong aspect ratio or low resolution. If you have to squint to make out the logo in a message, the chances are that it’s phishing.
The URL doesn’t match.
Phishing always centers around links that you’re supposed to click or tap. Here are a few ways to check whether a link someone sent you is legitimate:
You can also spot a phishing attack when you know what some of the most popular scams are:
The CEO Scam
This scam appears as an email from a leader in your organization, asking for highly sensitive info like company accounts, employee salaries, and Social Security numbers. The hackers “spoof”, or fake, the boss’ email address so it looks like a legitimate internal company email. That’s what makes this scam so convincing — the lure is that you want to do your job and please your boss. But keep this scam in mind if you receive an email asking for confidential or highly sensitive info. Ask the apparent sender directly whether the request is real before acting.
The Urgent Email Attachment
Phishing emails that try to trick you into downloading a dangerous attachment that can infect your computer and steal your private info have been around for a long time. This is because they work. You’ve probably received emails asking you to download attachments confirming a package delivery, trip itinerary, or prize. They might urge you to “respond immediately!” The lure here is offering you something you want and invoking a sense of urgency to get you to click.
The “Lucky” Text or Email
How fortunate! You’ve won a free gift, an exclusive service, or a great deal on a trip to Las Vegas. Just remember, whatever “limited time offer” you’re being sold, it’s probably a phishing scam designed to get you to give up your credit card number or identity info. The lure here is something free or exciting at what appears to be little or no cost to you.
The Romance Scam
This one can happen completely online, over the phone, or in person after contact is established. But the romance scam always starts with someone supposedly looking for love. The scammer often puts a phony ad online or poses as a friend-of-a-friend on social media and contacts you directly. But what starts as the promise of love or partnership, often leads to requests for money or pricey gifts. The scammer will sometimes spin a hardship story, saying they need to borrow money to come visit you or pay their phone bill so they can stay in touch. The lure here is simple — love and acceptance.
Account Suspended Scam
Some phishing emails appear to notify you that your bank temporarily suspended your account due to unusual activity. If you receive an account suspension email from a bank that you haven’t opened an account with, delete it immediately, and don’t look back. Suspended account phishing emails from banks you do business with, however, are harder to spot. Use the methods we listed above to check the email’s integrity, and if all else fails, contact your bank directly instead of opening any links within the email you received.
While you can’t outright stop phishing attacks from making their way to your computer or phone, you can do several things to keep yourself from falling for them. Further, you can do other things that might make it more difficult for scammers to reach you.
The content and the tone of the message can tell you quite a lot. Threatening messages or ones that play on fear are often phishing attacks, such as angry messages from a so-called tax agent looking to collect back taxes. Other messages will lean heavily on urgency, like a phony overdue payment notice. And during the holidays, watch out for loud, overexcited messages about deep discounts on hard-to-find items. Instead of linking you off to a proper e-commerce site, they might link you to a scam shopping site that does nothing but steal your money and the account info you used to pay them. In all, phishing attacks indeed smell fishy. Slow down and review that message with a critical eye. It might tip you off to a scam.
Some phishing attacks can look rather convincing. So much so that you’ll want to follow up on them, like if your bank reports irregular activity on your account or a bill appears to be past due. In these cases, don’t click on the link in the message. Go straight to the website of the business or organization in question and access your account from there. Likewise, if you have questions, you can always reach out to their customer service number or web page.
Some phishing attacks occur in social media messengers. When you get direct messages, consider the source. Consider, would an income tax collector contact you over social media? The answer there is no. For example, in the U.S. the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes it clear that they will never contact taxpayers via social media. (Let alone send angry, threatening messages.) In all, legitimate businesses and organizations don’t use social media as a channel for official communications. They’ve accepted ways they will, and will not, contact you. If you have any doubts about a communication you received, contact the business or organization in question directly. Follow up with one of their customer service representatives.
Some phishing attacks involve attachments packed with malware, like ransomware, viruses, and keyloggers. If you receive a message with such an attachment, delete it. Even if you receive an email with an attachment from someone you know, follow up with that person. Particularly if you weren’t expecting an attachment from them. Scammers often hijack or spoof email accounts of everyday people to spread malware.
How’d that scammer get your phone number or email address anyway? Chances are, they pulled that info off a data broker site. Data brokers buy, collect, and sell detailed personal info, which they compile from several public and private sources, such as local, state, and federal records, plus third parties like supermarket shopper’s cards and mobile apps that share and sell user data. Moreover, they’ll sell it to anyone who pays for it, including people who’ll use that info for scams. You can help reduce those scam texts and calls by removing your info from those sites. Our Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info.
Online protection software can protect you in several ways. First, it can offer web protection features that can identify malicious links and downloads, which can help prevent clicking them. Further, features like our web protection can steer you away from dangerous websites and block malware and phishing sites if you accidentally click on a malicious link. Additionally, our Scam Protection feature warns you of sketchy links in emails, texts, and messages. And overall, strong virus and malware protection can further block any attacks on your devices. Be sure to protect your smartphones in addition to your computers and laptops as well, particularly given all the sensitive things we do on them, like banking, shopping, and booking rides and travel.
The post How to Recognize a Phishing Email appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Before your phone gets lost or stolen, put some basic steps in place.
You’ll want to act quickly, so preparation is everything. With the right measures, you can find it, recover it, or even erase it if needed. These steps can get you set up so you can do exactly that.
Lock your phone.
Locking your phone is one of the most basic smartphone security measures you can take. Trouble is, few of us do it. Our recent global research showed that only 56% of adults said that they protect their smartphone with a password, passcode, or other form of lock.[i] In effect, an unlocked phone is an open book to anyone who finds or steals a phone
Setting up a lock screen is easy. It’s a simple feature found on iOS and Android devices. iPhones and Androids have an auto-lock feature that locks your phone after a certain period of inactivity. Keep this time on the low end, one minute or less, to help prevent unauthorized access.
We suggest using a six-digit PIN or passcode rather than using a gesture to unlock your phone. They’re more complex and secure. Researchers proved as much with a little “shoulder surfing” test. They looked at how well one group of subjects could unlock a phone after observing the way another group of subjects unlocked it.[ii]
Turn on “Find My Phone.”
Another powerful tool you have at your disposal is the Find My Phone feature made possible thanks to GPS technology. The “find my” feature can help you pinpoint your phone if your lost or stolen phone has an active data or Wi-Fi connection and has its GPS location services enabled. Even if the phone gets powered down or loses connection, it can guide you to its last known location.
Setting up this feature is easy. Apple offers a comprehensive web page on how to enable and use their “Find My” feature for phones (and other devices too). Android users can get a step-by-step walkthrough on Google’s Android support page as well.
Back up your stuff in the cloud.
Thanks to cloud storage, you might be able to recover your photos, files, apps, notes, contact info, and more if your phone is lost or stolen. Android owners can learn how to set up cloud backup with Google Drive here, and iPhone users can learn the same for iCloud here.
Write down your phone’s unique ID number.
Here are a couple of acronyms. IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) or MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) are two types of unique ID numbers assigned to smartphones. Find yours and write it down. In case of loss or theft, your mobile carrier, police department, or insurance provider might ask for the info to assist in its return or reimbursement for loss.
Beyond digital security measures, plenty of loss and theft prevention falls on you. Treat your phone like the desirable item it is. That’s a big step when it comes to preventing theft.
Keep your phone close.
And by close, we mean on your person. It’s easy to leave your phone on the table at a coffee shop, on a desk in a shared workspace, or on a counter when you’re shopping. Thieves might jump on any of these opportunities for a quick snatch-and-grab. You’re better off with your phone in your pocket or zipped up in a bag that you keep close.
Secure your bags and the devices you carry in them.
Enterprising thieves will find a way. They’ll snatch your bag while you’re not looking. Or they might even slice into it with a knife to get what’s inside, like your phone.
Keep your bag or backpack close. If you’re stopping to grab a bite to eat, sling the handles through a chair leg. If you have a strong metal carabiner, you can use that too. Securing your bag like that can make it much tougher for a thief to walk by and swipe it. For extra security, look into a slash-resistant bag.
If you have a credit card and ID holder attached to the back of your phone, you might want to remove your cards from it. That way, if your phone gets snatched, those important cards won’t get snatched as well.
In the event of your phone getting lost or stolen, a combination of device tracking, device locking, and remote erasing can help protect your phone and the data on it.
Different device manufacturers have different ways of going about it. But the result is the same — you can prevent others from using your phone, and even erase it if you’re truly worried that it’s in the wrong hands or gone for good. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.
Apple’s Find My app takes things a step further. Beyond locating a lost phone or wiping it, Find My can also mark the item as lost, notify you if you’ve left it behind, or trigger a sound to help you locate it. (A huge boon in that couch cushion scenario!) Drop by Apple’s page dedicated to the Find My app for more details on what you can do on what devices, along with instructions how.
With preparation and prevention, you can give yourself reassurance if your phone gets lost or stolen. You have plenty of recovery options, in addition to plenty of ways to prevent bad actors from getting their hands on the sensitive info you keep on it.
[i] https://www.mcafee.com/content/dam/consumer/en-us/docs/reports/rp-connected-family-study-2022-global.pdf
[ii] https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.04959
The post What Should I do If My Phone Gets Stolen or Lost? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In today’s interconnected world, our mobile devices serve as essential tools for communication, productivity, and entertainment. However, for some tech-savvy users, the allure of unlocking the full potential of their devices through jailbreaking (for iOS) or rooting (for Android) can be tempting. While these processes offer users greater control and customization over their devices, they also raise significant questions about security implications.
To “jailbreak” means to allow the phone’s owner to gain full access to the root of the operating system and access all the features. Jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple and associated carriers on devices running the iOS operating system. Jailbroken phones came into the mainstream when Apple first released their iPhone and it was only on AT&T’s network. Users who wanted to use an iPhone with other carriers were not able to unless they had a jailbroken iPhone.
Similar to jailbreaking, “rooting” is the term for the process of removing the limitations on a mobile or tablet running the Android operating system. By gaining privileged control, often referred to as “root access,” over an Android device’s operating system, users can modify system files, remove pre-installed bloatware, install custom ROMs, and unlock features not accessible on stock devices.
Rooting or jailbreaking grants users deeper access to the device’s operating system, allowing for extensive customization of the user interface, system settings, and even hardware functionality. Advanced users can optimize system performance, remove unnecessary bloatware, and tweak settings to improve battery life, speed, and responsiveness.
However, hacking your device potentially opens security holes that may have not been readily apparent or undermines the device’s built-in security measures. Jailbroken and rooted phones are much more susceptible to viruses and malware because users can avoid Apple and Google application vetting processes that help ensure users are downloading virus-free apps.
In addition to security vulnerabilities, hacking your device may lead to a voided manufacturer’s warranty, leaving you without official support for repairs or replacements. Altering the device’s operating system can also lead to instability, crashes, and performance issues, especially if incompatible software or modifications are installed.
While rooting or jailbreaking may offer users enticing opportunities for customization and optimization of their mobile devices, the associated risks cannot be overlooked. By circumventing built-in security measures, users expose their devices to potential security vulnerabilities, making them more susceptible to viruses and malware. Ultimately, the decision to root or jailbreak a mobile device should be made with careful consideration of the trade-offs involved, as the security risks often outweigh the benefits.
When thinking about mobile security risks, consider adding reputable mobile security software to your device to augment the built-in security measures. These security solutions provide real-time scanning and threat detection capabilities, helping to safeguard sensitive data and maintain the integrity of the device’s operating system.
The post How Does Jailbreaking Or Rooting Affect My Mobile Device Security? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
“Vishing” occurs when criminals cold-call victims and attempt to persuade them to divulge personal information over the phone. These scammers are generally after credit card numbers and personal identifying information, which can then be used to commit financial theft. Vishing can occur both on your landline phone or via your cell phone.
The term is a combination of “voice,” and “phishing,” which is the use of spoofed emails to trick targets into clicking malicious links. Rather than email, vishing generally relies on automated phone calls that instruct targets to provide account numbers. Techniques scammers use to get your phone numbers include:
Once vishers have phone numbers, they employ various strategies to deceive their targets and obtain valuable personal information:
To protect yourself from vishing scams, you should:
Staying vigilant and informed is your best defense against vishing scams. By verifying caller identities, being skeptical of unsolicited requests for personal information, and using call-blocking tools, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to these deceptive practices. Additionally, investing in identity theft protection services can provide an extra layer of security. These services monitor your personal information for suspicious activity and offer assistance in recovering from identity theft, giving you peace of mind in an increasingly digital world. Remember, proactive measures and awareness are key to safeguarding your personal information against vishing threats.
The post How to Protect Yourself from Vishing appeared first on McAfee Blog.
My mother recently turned 80, so of course a large celebration was in order. With 100 plus guests, entertainment, and catering to organise, the best way for me to keep everyone updated (and share tasks) was to use Google Docs. Gee, it worked well. My updates could immediately be seen by everyone, the family could access it from all the devices, and it was free to use! No wonder Google has a monopoly on drive and document sharing.
But here’s the thing – hackers know just how much both individuals and businesses have embraced Google products. So, it makes complete sense that they use reputable companies such as Google to devise phishing emails that are designed to extract our personal information. In fact, the Google Docs phishing scam was widely regarded as one of the most successful personal data extraction scams to date. They know that billions of people worldwide use Google so an invitation to click a link and view a document does not seem like an unreasonable email to receive. But it caused so much grief for so many people.
Emails designed to trick you into sharing your personal information are a scammer’s bread and butter. This is essentially what phishing is. It is by far the most successful tool they use to get their hands on your personal data and access your email.
‘But why do they want my email logins?’ – I hear you ask. Well, email accounts are what every scammer dreams of – they are a treasure trove of personally identifiable material that they can either steal or exploit. They could also use your email to launch a wide range of malicious activities from spamming and spoofing to spear phishing. Complicated terms, I know but in essence these are different types of phishing strategies. So, you can see why they are keen!!
But successful phishing emails usually share a few criteria which is important to know. Firstly, the email looks like it has been sent from a legitimate company e.g. Microsoft, Amex, or Google. Secondly, the email has a strong ‘call to action’ e.g. ‘your password has been changed, if this is not the case, please click here’. And thirdly, the email does not seem too out of place or random from the potential victim’s perspective.
Despite the fact that scammers are savvy tricksters, there are steps you can take to maximise the chances your email remains locked away from their prying eyes. Here’s what I suggest:
Never respond to an unexpected email or website that asks you for personal information or your login details no matter how professional it looks. If you have any doubts, always contact the company directly to verify.
Make sure you have super-duper internet security software that includes all the bells and whistles. Not only does internet security software McAfee+ include protection for daily browsing but it also has a password manager, a VPN, and a social privacy manager that will lock down your privacy settings on your social media accounts. A complete no-brainer!
Avoid using public Wi-Fi to log into your email from public places. It takes very little effort for a hacker to position themselves between you and the connection point. So, it’s entirely possible for them to be in receipt of all your private information and logins which clearly you don’t want. If you really need to use it, invest in a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which will ensure everything you share via Wi-Fi will be encrypted. Your McAfee+ subscription includes a VPN.
Public computers should also be avoided even just to ‘check your email’. Not only is there a greater chance of spyware on untrusted computers but some of them sport key-logging programs which can both monitor and record the keys you strike on the keyboard – a great way of finding out your password!
Ensuring each of your online accounts has its own unique, strong, and complex password is one of the best ways of keeping hackers out of your life. I always suggest at least 10-12 characters with a combination of upper and lower case letters, symbols, and numbers. A crazy nonsensical sentence is a great option here but better still is a password manager that will remember and generate passwords that no human could! A password manager is also part of your McAfee+ online security pack.
Even if you have taken all the necessary steps to protect your email from hackers, there is the chance that your email logins may be leaked in a data breach. A data breach happens when a company’s data is accessed by scammers and customers’ personal information is stolen. You may remember the Optus, Medibank and Latitude hacks of 2022/23?
If you have had your personal information stolen, please be assured that there are steps you can take to remedy this. The key is to act fast. Check out my recent blog post here for everything you need to know.
So, next time you’re organising a big gathering don’t hesitate to use Google Docs to plan or Microsoft Teams to host your planning meetings. While the thought of being hacked might make you want to withdraw, please don’t. Instead, cultivate a questioning mindset in both yourself and your kids, and always have a healthy amount of suspicion when going about your online life. You’ve got this!!
Till next time,
Stay safe!
Alex
The post How To Prevent Your Emails From Being Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
I think I could count on one hand the people I know who have NOT had their email hacked. Maybe they found a four-leaf clover when they were kids! Email hacking is one of the very unfortunate downsides of living in our connected, digital world. And it usually occurs as a result of a data breach – a situation that even the savviest tech experts find themselves in.
In simple terms, a data breach happens when personal information is accessed, disclosed without permission, or lost. Companies, organisations, and government departments of any size can be affected. Data stolen can include customer login details (email addresses and passwords), credit card numbers, identifying IDs of customers e.g. driver’s license numbers and/or passport numbers, confidential customer information, company strategy, or even matters of national security.
Data breaches have made headlines, particularly over the last few years. When the Optus and Medibank data breaches hit the news in 2022 affecting almost 10 million Aussies apiece, we were all shaken. But then when Aussie finance company Latitude was affected in 2023 with a whopping 14 million people from both Australia and New Zealand, it almost felt inevitable that by now, most of us would have been impacted.
The reality is that data breaches have been happening for years. In fact, the largest data breach in Australian history happened in 2019 to the online design site Canva which affected 139 million users globally. In short, it can happen to anyone, and the chances are you may have already been affected.
The sole objective of a hacker is to get their hands on your data. Any information that you share in your email account can be very valuable to them. Why do they want your data, you ask? It’s simple really – so they can cash in!
Some will keep the juicy stuff for themselves – passwords or logins to government departments or large companies they may want to ’target’ with the aim of extracting valuable data and/or funds. The more sophisticated ones will sell your details including name, telephone, email address, and credit card details to cash in on the dark web. They often do this in batches. Some experts believe they can get as much as AU$250 for a full set of details including credit cards. So, you can see why they’d be interested in you.
The other reason why hackers will be interested in your email address and password is that many of us re-use our login details across our other online accounts. Once they’ve got their hands on your email credentials, they may be able to access your online banking and investment accounts, if you use the same credentials everywhere. So, you can see why I harp on about using a unique password for every online account!
There is a plethora of statistics on just how big this issue is – all of them concerning. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, of all the country’s cybercrime reports in 2024, about 21.9% involved identity theft and misuse. The Australian Bureau of Statistics adds that the identity theft victimisation rate has steadily increased from 0.8% to 1.2% from 2021 to 2024, respectively.
Meanwhile, The Australian Government revealed that at least one cybercrime is reported every 6 minutes, with business email compromise alone costing the national economy up to $84 million in losses. Regardless of which statistic you choose to focus on, we have a big issue on our hands.
Hackers use a range of techniques—some highly sophisticated, others deceptively simple—to gain access. It is important to know how these attacks happen so you can stay ahead and prevent them.
Yes, absolutely. An email account is often the central hub of your digital life. Once a cybercriminal controls it, they can initiate password resets for your other online accounts, including banking, shopping, and social media. They can intercept sensitive information sent to you, such as financial statements or medical records.
With enough information gathered from your emails, they can commit identity theft, apply for credit in your name, or access other sensitive services. If you suspect your email was hacked, it’s crucial to monitor your financial statements and consider placing a fraud alert with credit bureaus.
If you find yourself a victim of email hacking, these are a few very important steps you need to take. Fast.
Using a separate, clean device, this is the very first thing you must do to ensure the hacker can’t get back into your account. It is essential that your new password is complex and totally unrelated to previous passwords. Always use random words and characters, a passphrase with a variety of upper and lower cases, and throw in some symbols and numbers.
I really like the idea of a crazy, nonsensical sentence – easier to remember and harder to crack! But, better still, get yourself a password manager that will create a password that no human would be capable of creating. If you find the hacker has locked you out of your account by changing your password, you will need to reset the password by clicking on the ‘Forgot My Password’ link.
This is time-consuming, but essential. Ensure you change any other accounts that use the same username and password as your compromised email. Hackers love the fact that many people use the same logins for multiple accounts, so it is guaranteed they will try your info in other email applications and sites such as PayPal, Amazon, Netflix – you name it!
Once the dust has settled, review your password strategy for all your online accounts. A best practice is to ensure every online account has its own unique and complex password.
Most email services have a security feature that lets you remotely log out of all active sessions. Once you’ve changed your password, signing out from your email account also signs out the hacker and forces them to log-in with the new password, which fortunately they do not know. These, combined with two- or multi-factor authentication, will help you to regain control of your account and prevent further compromise.
A big part of the hacker’s strategy is to get their claws into your address book to hook others as well. Send a message to all your email contacts as soon as possible so they know to avoid opening any emails—most likely loaded with malware—that have come from you.
Two-factor or multi-factor authentication may seem like an additional, inconvenient step to your login, but it also adds another layer of protection. Enabling this means you will need a special one-time-use code to log in, aside from your password. This is sent to your mobile phone or generated via an authenticator app. So worthwhile!
It is common for hackers to modify your email settings so that a copy of every email you receive is automatically forwarded to them. Not only can they monitor your logins to other sites; they can also keep a watchful eye on any particularly juicy personal information. So, check your mail forwarding settings to ensure no unexpected email addresses have been added.
Also, ensure your ‘reply to’ email address is actually yours. Hackers have been known to create an email address that looks similar to yours, so that when someone replies, it will go straight to their account, not yours.
Don’t forget to check your email signature to ensure nothing spammy has been added, as well as your recovery phone number and alternate email address. Hackers also change these to maintain control. Update them to your own secure details.
Regularly scanning your devices for unwanted invaders is essential. If you find anything, please ensure it is addressed, and then change your email password again. If you don’t have antivirus software, please invest in it.
Comprehensive security software will provide you with a digital shield for your online life, protecting all your devices – including your smartphone – from viruses and malware. Some services also include a password manager to help you generate and store unique passwords for all your accounts.
If you have been hacked several times and your email provider isn’t mitigating the amount of spam you are receiving, consider starting afresh. Do not, however, delete your old email address because email providers are known to recycle old email addresses. This means a hacker could spam every site they can find with a ‘forgot my password’ request and try to impersonate you and steal your identity.
Your email is an important part of your online identity so being vigilant and addressing any fallout from hacking is essential for your digital reputation. Even though it may feel that getting hacked is inevitable, you can definitely reduce your risk by installing some good-quality security software on all your devices.
Trusted and reliable comprehensive security software will alert you when visiting risky websites, warn you when a download looks dodgy, and block annoying and dangerous emails with anti-spam technology. It makes sense really – if you don’t receive the dodgy phishing email – you can’t click on it. Smart!
Finally, don’t forget that hackers love social media – particularly those of us who overshare on it. So, before you post details of your adorable new kitten, remember it may just provide the perfect clue for a hacker trying to guess your email password!
Reporting an email hack is a crucial step to create a necessary paper trail for disputes with banks or credit agencies. When reporting, gather evidence such as screenshots of suspicious activity, unrecognized login locations and times, and any phishing emails you received. This information can be vital for the investigation.
Generally, no. Deleting the account can cause more problems than it solves. Many online services are linked to that email, and deleting it means you lose the ability to receive password reset links and security notifications for those accounts.
More importantly, some email providers recycle deleted addresses, meaning a hacker could potentially re-register your old email address and use it to impersonate you and take over your linked accounts.
The better course of action is to regain control, thoroughly secure the account with a new password and multi-factor authentication, and clean up any damage. Only consider migrating to a new email address after you have fully secured the old one.
Each email provider has a specific, structured process for account recovery. It is vital to only use the official recovery pages provided by the service and be wary of scam websites or third-party services that claim they can recover your account for a fee. Below are the official steps of the major providers that you can follow.
Your email account is the master key to your digital kingdom, and protecting it is more critical than ever since many of your other accounts are connected with your email. Realizing “my email has been hacked” is a stressful experience, but taking swift and correct action can significantly limit the damage.
By following the recovery steps and adopting strong, ongoing security habits like using a password manager and enabling multi-factor authentication, you can turn a potential crisis into a lesson in digital resilience. Stay vigilant, stay proactive, and keep your digital front door securely locked.
To add another wall of defense, consider investing in a trusted and reliable comprehensive security software like McAfee+. Our solution will help you dodge hacking attempts by alerting you when visiting risky websites, or downloading questionable apps, and blocking malicious emails with anti-spam technology.
The post What to Do If Your Email Is Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s that time of year again – tax season! Whether you’ve already filed in the hopes of an early refund or have yet to start the process, one thing is for sure: cybercriminals will certainly use tax season as a means to get victims to give up their personal and financial information. This time of year is advantageous for malicious actors since the IRS and tax preparers are some of the few people who actually need your personal data. As a result, consumers are targeted with various scams impersonating trusted sources like the IRS or DIY tax software companies. Fortunately, every year the IRS outlines the most prevalent tax scams, such as voice phishing, email phishing, and fake tax software scams. Let’s explore the details of these threats.
So, how do cybercriminals use voice phishing to impersonate the IRS? Voice phishing, a form of criminal phone fraud, uses social engineering tactics to gain access to victims’ personal and financial information. For tax scams, criminals will make unsolicited calls posing as the IRS and leave voicemails requesting an immediate callback. The crooks will then demand that the victim pay a phony tax bill in the form of a wire transfer, prepaid debit card or gift card. In one case outlined by Forbes, victims received emails in their inbox that allegedly contained voicemails from the IRS. The emails didn’t actually contain any voicemails but instead directed victims to a suspicious SharePoint URL. Last year, a number of SharePoint phishing scams occurred as an attempt to steal Office 365 credentials, so it’s not surprising that cybercriminals are using this technique to access taxpayers’ personal data now as well.
In addition to voice phishing schemes, malicious actors are also using email to try and get consumers to give up their personal and financial information. This year alone, almost 400 IRS phishing URLs have been reported. In a typical email phishing scheme, scammers try to obtain personal tax information like usernames and passwords by using spoofed email addresses and stolen logos. In many cases, the emails contain suspicious hyperlinks that redirect users to a fake site or PDF attachments that may download malware or viruses. If a victim clicks on these malicious links or attachments, they can seriously endanger their tax data by giving identity thieves the opportunity to steal their refund. What’s more, cybercriminals are also using subject lines like “IRS Important Notice” and “IRS Taxpayer Notice” and demanding payment or threatening to seize the victim’s tax refund.
Cybercriminals are even going so far as to impersonate trusted brands like TurboTax for their scams. In this case, DIY tax preparers who search for TurboTax software on Google are shown ads for pirated versions of TurboTax. The victims will pay a fee for the software via PayPal, only to have their computer infected with malware after downloading the software. You may be wondering, how do victims happen upon this malicious software through a simple Google search? Unfortunately, scammers have been paying to have their spoofed sites show up in search results, increasing the chances that an innocent taxpayer will fall victim to their scheme.
Money is a prime motivator for many consumers, and malicious actors are fully prepared to exploit this. Many people are concerned about how much they might owe or are predicting how much they’ll get back on their tax refund, and scammers play to both of these emotions. So, as hundreds of taxpayers are waiting for a potential tax return, it’s important that they navigate tax season wisely. Check out the following tips to avoid being spoofed by cybercriminals and identity thieves:
File before cybercriminals do it for you. The easiest defense you can take against tax season schemes is to get your hands on your W-2 and file as soon as possible. The more prompt you are to file, the less likely your data will be raked in by a cybercriminal.
Keep an eye on your credit and your identity. Keeping tabs on your credit report and knowing if your personal information has been compromised in some way can help prevent tax fraud. Together, they can let you know if someone has stolen your identity or if you have personal info on the dark web that could lead to identity theft.
Watch out for spoofed websites. Scammers have extremely sophisticated tools that help disguise phony web addresses for DIY tax software, such as stolen company logos and site designs. To avoid falling for this, go directly to the source. Type the address of a website directly into the address bar of your browser instead of following a link from an email or internet search. If you receive any suspicious links in your email, investigating the domain is usually a good way to tell if the source is legitimate or not.
Protect yourself from scam messages. Scammers also send links to scam sites via texts, social media messages, and email. Text Scam Detector can help you spot if the message you got is a fake. It uses AI technology that automatically detects links to scam URLs. If you accidentally click, don’t worry, it can block risky sites if you do.
Clean up your personal info online. Crooks and scammers have to find you before they can contact you. After all, they need to get your phone number or email from somewhere. Sometimes, that’s from “people finder” and online data brokers that gather and sell personal info to any buyer. Including crooks. McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can remove your personal info from the data broker sites scammers use to contact their victims.
Consider an identity theft protection solution. If for some reason your personal data does become compromised, be sure to use an identity theft solution such as McAfee Identity Theft Protection, which allows users to take a proactive approach to protect their identities with personal and financial monitoring and recovery tools to help keep their identities personal and secured.
The post How to Steer Clear of Tax Season Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
There are plenty of phish in the sea.
Millions of bogus phishing emails land in millions of inboxes each day with one purpose in mind—to rip off the recipient. Whether they’re out to crack your bank account, steal personal information, or both, you can learn how to spot phishing emails and keep yourself safe.
And some of today’s phishing emails are indeed getting tougher to spot.
They seem like they come from companies you know and trust, like your bank, your credit card company, or services like Netflix, PayPal, and Amazon. And some of them look convincing. The writing and the layout are crisp, and the overall presentation looks professional. Yet still, there’s still something off about them.
And there’s certainly something wrong with that email. It was written by a scammer. Phishing emails employ a bait-and-hook tactic, where an urgent or enticing message is the bait and malware or a link to a phony login page is the hook.
Once the hook gets set, several things might happen. That phony login page may steal account and personal information. Or that malware might install keylogging software that steals information, viruses that open a back door through which data can get hijacked, or ransomware that holds a device and its data hostage until a fee is paid.
Again, you can sidestep these attacks if you know how to spot them. There are signs.
Let’s look at how prolific these attacks are, pick apart a few examples, and then break down the things you should look for.
In the U.S. alone, more than 300,000 victims reported a phishing attack to the FBI in 2022. Phishing attacks topped the list of reported complaints, roughly six times greater than the second top offender, personal data breaches. The actual figure is undoubtedly higher, given that not all attacks get reported.
Looking at phishing attacks worldwide, one study suggests that more than 255 million phishing attempts were made in the second half of 2022 alone. That marks a 61% increase over the previous year. Another study concluded that 1 in every 99 mails sent contained a phishing attack.
Yet scammers won’t always cast such a wide net. Statistics point to a rise in targeted spear phishing, where the attacker goes after a specific person. They will often target people at businesses who have the authority to transfer funds or make payments. Other targets include people who have access to sensitive information like passwords, proprietary data, and account information.
As such, the price of these attacks can get costly. In 2022, the FBI received 21,832 complaints from businesses that said they fell victim to a spear phishing attack. The adjusted losses were over $2.7 billion—an average cost of $123,671 per attack.
So while exacting phishing attack statistics remain somewhat elusive, there’s no question that phishing attacks are prolific. And costly.
Nearly every phishing attack sends an urgent message. One designed to get you to act.
Some examples …
When set within a nice design and paired some official-looking logos, it’s easy to see why plenty of people click the link or attachment that comes with messages like these.
And that’s the tricky thing with phishing attacks. Scammers have leveled up their game in recent years. Their phishing emails can look convincing. Not long ago, you could point to misspellings, lousy grammar, poor design, and logos that looked stretched or that used the wrong colors. Poorly executed phishing attacks like that still make their way into the world. However, it’s increasingly common to see far more sophisticated attacks today. Attacks that appear like a genuine message or notice.
Case in point:
Say you got an email that said your PayPal account had an issue. Would you type your account information here if you found yourself on this page? If so, you would have handed over your information to a scammer.
We took the screenshot above as part of following a phishing attack to its end—without entering any legitimate info, of course. In fact, we entered a garbage email address and password, and it still let us in. That’s because the scammers were after other information, as you’ll soon see.
As we dug into the site more deeply, it looked pretty spot on. The design mirrored PayPal’s style, and the footer links appeared official enough. Yet then we looked more closely.
Note the subtle errors, like “card informations” and “Configuration of my activity.” While companies make grammatical errors on occasion, spotting them in an interface should hoist a big red flag. Plus, the site asks for credit card information very early in the process. All suspicious.
Here’s where the attackers really got bold.
They ask for bank “informations,” which not only includes routing and account numbers, but they ask for the account password too. As said, bold. And entirely bogus.
Taken all together, the subtle errors and the bald-faced grab for exacting account information clearly mark this as a scam.
Let’s take a few steps back, though. Who sent the phishing email that directed us to this malicious site? None other than “paypal at inc dot-com.”
Clearly, that’s a phony email. And typical of a phishing attack where an attacker shoehorns a familiar name into an unassociated email address, in this case “inc dot-com.” Attackers may also gin up phony addresses that mimic official addresses, like “paypalcustsv dot-com.” Anything to trick you.
Likewise, the malicious site that the phishing email sent us to used a spoofed address as well. It had no official association with PayPal at all—which is proof positive of a phishing attack.
Note that companies only send emails from their official domain names, just as their sites only use their official domain names. Several companies and organizations will list those official domains on their websites to help curb phishing attacks.
For example, PayPal has a page that clearly states how it will and will not contact you. At McAfee, we have an entire page dedicated to preventing phishing attacks, which also lists the official email addresses we use.
Not every scammer is so sophisticated, at least in the way that they design their phishing emails. We can point to a few phishing emails that posed as legitimate communication from McAfee as examples.
There’s a lot going on in this first email example. The scammers try to mimic the McAfee brand, yet don’t pull it off. Still, they do several things to try to act convincing.
Note the use of photography and the box shot of our software, paired with a prominent “act now” headline. It’s not the style of photography we use. Not that people would generally know this. However, some might have a passing thought like, “Huh. That doesn’t really look like what McAfee usually sends me.”
Beyond that, there are a few capitalization errors, some misplaced punctuation, and the “order now” and “60% off” icons look rather slapped on. Also note the little dash of fear it throws in with a mention of “There are (42) viruses on your computer …”
Taken all together, someone can readily spot that this is a scam with a closer look.
This next ad falls into the less sophisticated category. It’s practically all text and goes heavy on the red ink. Once again, it hosts plenty of capitalization errors, with a few gaffes in grammar as well. In all, it doesn’t read smoothly. Nor is it easy on the eye, as a proper email about your account should be.
What sets this example apart is the “advertisement” disclaimer below, which tries to lend the attack some legitimacy. Also note the phony “unsubscribe” link, plus the (scratched out) mailing address and phone, which all try to do the same.
This last example doesn’t get our font right, and the trademark symbol is awkwardly placed. The usual grammar and capitalization errors crop up again, yet this piece of phishing takes a slightly different approach. 
The scammers placed a little timer at the bottom of the email. That adds a degree of scarcity. They want you to think that you have about half an hour before you are unable to register for protection. That’s bogus, of course.
Seeing any recurring themes? There are a few for sure. With these examples in mind, get into the details—how you can spot phishing attacks and how you can avoid them altogether.
Just as we saw, some phishing attacks indeed appear fishy from the start. Yet sometimes it takes a bit of time and a particularly critical eye to spot.
And that’s what scammers count on. They hope that you’re moving quickly or otherwise a little preoccupied when you’re going through your email or messages. Distracted enough so that you might not pause to think, is this message really legit?
One of the best ways to beat scammers is to take a moment to scrutinize that message while keeping the following in mind …
Fear. That’s a big one. Maybe it’s an angry-sounding email from a government agency saying that you owe back taxes. Or maybe it’s another from a family member asking for money because there’s an emergency. Either way, scammers will lean heavily on fear as a motivator.
If you receive such a message, think twice. Consider if it’s genuine. For instance, consider that tax email example. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has specific guidelines as to how and when they will contact you. As a rule, they will likely contact you via physical mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. (They won’t call or apply pressure tactics—only scammers do that.) Likewise, other nations will have similar standards as well.
Scammers also love urgency. Phishing attacks begin by stirring up your emotions and getting you to act quickly. Scammers might use threats or overly excitable language to create that sense of urgency, both of which are clear signs of a potential scam.
Granted, legitimate businesses and organizations might reach out to notify you of a late payment or possible illicit activity on one of your accounts. Yet they’ll take a far more professional and even-handed tone than a scammer would. For example, it’s highly unlikely that your local electric utility will angrily shut off your service if you don’t pay your past due bill immediately.
Gift cards, cryptocurrency, money orders—these forms of payment are another sign that you might be looking at a phishing attack. Scammers prefer these methods of payment because they’re difficult to trace. Additionally, consumers have little or no way to recover lost funds from these payment methods.
Legitimate businesses and organizations won’t ask for payments in those forms. If you get a message asking for payment in one of those forms, you can bet it’s a scam.
Here’s another way you can spot a phishing attack. Take a close look at the addresses the message is using. If it’s an email, look at the email address. Maybe the address doesn’t match the company or organization at all. Or maybe it does somewhat, yet it adds a few letters or words to the name. This marks yet another sign that you might have a phishing attack on your hands.
Likewise, if the message contains a web link, closely examine that as well. If the name looks at all unfamiliar or altered from the way you’ve seen it before, that might also mean you’re looking at a phishing attempt.
Online protection software can protect you from phishing attacks in several ways.
For starters, it offers web protection that warns you when links lead to malicious websites, such as the ones used in phishing attacks. In the same way, online protection software can warn you about malicious downloads and email attachments so that you don’t end up with malware on your device. And, if the unfortunate does happen, antivirus can block and remove malware.
Online protection software like ours can also address the root of the problem. Scammers must get your email address from somewhere. Often, they get it from online data brokers, sites that gather and sell personal information to any buyer—scammers included.
Data brokers source this information from public records and third parties alike that they sell in bulk, providing scammers with massive mailing lists that can target thousands of potential victims. You can remove your personal info from some of the riskiest data broker sites with our Personal Data Cleanup, which can lower your exposure to scammers by keeping your email address out of their hands.
In all, phishing emails have telltale signs, some more difficult to see than others. Yet you can spot them when you know what to look for and take the time to look for them. With these attacks so prevalent and on the rise, looking at your email with a critical eye is a must today.
The post How to Spot Phishing Emails and Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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