How to Spot Fake Links in Your Emails

Opening unknown links can be a risk factor for your business and staff. As a result, more and more business owners have incorporated fake link prevention strategies into their security training. We’ve come up with a few tips to help ensure that your staff members have critical information on how to spot fake links. This training can help prevent hackers from gaining access to your business. It’s better to be proactive than reactive in cases after a breach.

How to Spot Fake Links: Brief Staff Security Training Guidance

If you’ve ever covered bogus links in your staff security training, you’ll want to consider the following tips to spot fake links. These security training guidelines will help give your staff the tools they need to stay safe from malicious links.

 

Staff Security Training Tip #1: Check URLs Before Following Them

As part of their security training, one important tip for your staff is to check all URLs. A URL is the web address you follow when you click a link. One common trick hackers use to make the URL seem authentic is a similar URL mimicking a legitimate website.

For example, one switch would be disguising bogus links by changing the website name from ‘example-site.com’ to example_site.com.’ This tiny change often goes unnoticed but could lead to your staff getting caught by a fake link.

Here are more examples:

If you regularly deal with Amazon, you’ll notice that their URLs look like these:

orders@amazon.com, service@amazon.com, or membership@amazon.com

But bogus URLs will look like these:

hurry@amazon-$75.com, buddy79@my_amazon.com, or service@amazon-helpmenow.com

Often, the URL won’t contain the sender’s name at all. You may see URLs like these:

clickhere@davisneedsshoes.org, holographic_iris@$9di4!wow.net

Question any link that seems out of place. If your staff doesn’t check these carefully, they can easily fall into a trap.

As part of this staff security tip, ensure they’re aware to check the link’s name and where the hyperlink goes. Hackers can easily disguise malicious links as legitimate links by using a website name as the anchor text. But, instead of taking you to a legitimate website, the link redirects you to a fake site. Luckily, checking the destination of a hyperlink is easy, especially on computers; simply right-click, and you’ll get an option to see or edit the hyperlink.

 

Staff Security Training Tip #2: Don’t Open Unknown Emails

A second crucial tip is to ensure that your staff does not open unknown emails. For many people, this is not easy to do. After all, how can you tell whether a sender is legitimate? It’s easy to understand why this is so difficult. Some people struggle to decide whether a firm’s contact details are legitimate addresses. Luckily, we have a few tips for this.

Firstly, for text messages and telephone contacts, look up the telephone number from the source. A quick search will often give you the information you need to know. Most companies will have these numbers listed on their website’s contact details. Alternatively, if the phone number is not legitimate, many sites now display shady phone numbers; searching the phone number alone may be enough information to help you decide if the text is legitimate.

Train Your Staff to Screen Email Addresses

To check a sender’s identity, you can search for a specific email address to see if any information comes up. Most companies will have their contact email addresses displayed on their website. Check the email address on the website to confirm that the links are legitimate. You should question its authenticity if the exact email address does not appear on the website.

If you struggle to find the correct information directly from a search, don’t hesitate to contact the company in question. Most companies are happy to help prevent a scam from occurring in their name.

Checking the legitimacy of the phone number or email address is one of the best ways to check whether a link is legitimate or fake. Ensure that your staff knows to do this for any link communication.

 

Staff Security Training Tip #3: Get the Best I.T. Support and Antivirus Software

As a third and final tip for your security training, we cannot stress the importance of good anti-malware and antivirus solutions highly enough. These in place and installed on your devices can provide a good security backup. This practice is vital if someone fails to spot fake links and tries to download harmful software.

Antivirus software is highly affordable nowadays and doesn’t take long to set up in your office. If you have any questions about this, contact us today. We will help you find the best antivirus software for your needs and offer training to your staff.

The Best Local I.T. Support in Atlanta, GA

At Cinch I.T., we know how important it is to have local computer support in Atlanta. Plenty of I.T. companies offer phone or remote support. But how many offer onsite support in Milton, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and the surrounding towns and cities?

Sometimes, a phone call or a remote log-in isn’t enough to solve your issue. You need boots on the ground. That’s why our computer support in Atlanta, GA, provides expert onsite assistance when your business needs it. Whether you’re considering an office move, setting up new printers, or inspecting your server room, we can help.

If you need I.T. support in Atlanta, GA, call us at (770) 299-0765. See how we can save you time and money on your local tech support today!

 

Read Our Other Tech Support Guides

You can follow us on social media @cinchit for more free tech tips and guides. Read more below for a handy list of common issues that we troubleshoot every day:

– How to Spot Fake Links in Your Emails

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– How to Find the Best Local Onsite Support

– Top 5 Computer Monitors to Work from Home

– Top 5 Antivirus Programs to Keep Your Computer Safe

– Microphone Not Working on Zoom? Try This!

– Troubleshoot a Multiple Monitor Display Issue

– Reinstall a USB Printer

– How to Set Exchange 2013 Email Message Size Restriction

– Export Outlook Cached Email Addresses

– How to Safely Work from Home

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