Phishing Explained: How to Stay Safe Online
Phishing is defined as "a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, phone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords. The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss."
Source: phishing.org
People can be targeted for phishing in lots of ways, via email, calls, texts and social media. Some common phishing methods include:
- Texts and emails featuring links to websites which look legitimate. The person is prompted to enter personal information (e.g. name, phone number, card details).
- 'Too good to be true' emails or texts about winning a competition, etc.
- Texts saying that you have a parcel waiting for pick-up and you will need to pay before it can be released. If you have a delivery due, make sure to contact the delivery service before making any payment.
- Email attachments (these can be viruses that will download to your computer if you click on them).
- Fake social media pages selling discounted items or saying you have won a 'too good to be true' prize. They will ask for card details before you can claim your prize.
To combat phishing attempts, ComReg has introduced the SMS Sender ID Registry to help prevent scam Bulk SMS messages. This means that business that bulk send messages to users must now register their sender IDs with ComReg in order to ensure their messages are not tagged "likely Scam". This has been set up to help keep users safe; however, we would still recommend that you be 100% cautious and don't click any links unless you are 100% certain.
How to Avoid Phishing
Here are some easy ways to avoid being caught by a phishing scam:
- Don't answer the phone if you don't recognise the number.
- If you receive a missed call from an unknown number, don't call back, as you may be charged. This form of phishing is sometimes referred to as a Wangiri call or scam.
- Never provide personal information (e.g. name, address, PPS number, bank details) over the phone, via text or email, unless you actually know the person you are talking to.
- Don't click on suspicious links in emails or texts.
- Don't open attachments on emails unless you know the sender and are expecting an attachment in the email.
- If you are entering a competition online via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, look for the blue tick on the host's profile page first, as this will confirm that it is a verified account.
- Download reliable security software (which generally includes spam filters and virus firewalls) to your PC or laptop.
- Be wary of pop-ups and advertisements when browsing the web.
- Always think before you click when you receive a text or email. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Please note: Some Three customers may have received an SMS claiming to be sent by Three, advising that their service will be disabled if a link within the SMS is not clicked. Please ignore this SMS, it was not sent by Three.
Some Three customers may receive an SMS claiming to be sent by Three, advising customers that their Three points are about to expire. Please note this SMS has not been sent by Three and should be ignored.
Our teams are investigating this, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
