Lesson 3B Phishing

Phishing Process

​Read the article and choose true or false options.

Phishing
Phishing is a form of online fraud where cybercriminals pretend to be trustworthy sources, such as companies or individuals, to deceive people. These scams often happen through emails or messages containing harmful links or attachments designed to steal personal details like usernames, passwords, and financial information. Deceptive phishing is one of the most common cyber threats because tricking someone into clicking a fake link is often easier than breaking through a secure system. For this reason, learning how phishing works is crucial in helping people recognize and avoid these scams.

Recognizing a Phishing URL
To identify a phishing website, checking the web address is important. A secure site usually starts with "https://", where the "S" stands for security through an SSL certificate. However, since some scammers now use "https://" too, this is not always a reliable way to determine a site's legitimacy. Other warning signs include misspellings or extra letters in the URL. For instance, a scam website may use "www.walmarts.com" instead of the official one. Fraudsters also replace letters with numbers, like using "0" instead of "O" (e.g., "www.yah00.com"). Small alterations, such as missing characters or unnecessary hyphens, can also indicate a fraudulent site.

Reporting a Phishing Website
With phishing attacks increasing, especially during the pandemic, Google receives approximately 46,000 reports of phishing websites every week. If you encounter a suspicious website, you can report it on Google's "Report Phishing" page by providing the link and any additional information.