Have you ever found yourself on a familiar website, but something just did not
feel quite right? Maybe the logo seemed a bit stretched, you spotted a
misspelling, or there was just something otherwise fishy going on. You may have
landed on a phony webpage, crafted by a cyber-criminal with the intent of
stealing your credentials and further sensitive information to commit fraud.
This is known as ‘phishing’, and is a common form of cyberattack employed by
criminals to steal data and commit fraud. Those engaging in phishing attempts
will commonly replicate reputable websites in the hopes of extracting
information. The websites they tend to target include payment portals like
PayPal, social media platforms like Facebook, and popular e-commerce sites like
Amazon.
Phishing attempts may not necessarily mimic popular sites though, they can take
other forms, like fake prize sites. There are a number of ways these websites
might appear on the screen...