Almost got phished bad while working remote at a coffee shop

I was at a Starbucks in Seattle last Tuesday, just checking emails while waiting for a client call. One came in from what looked exactly like my bank's support address, saying my account had been flagged for suspicious login and I needed to verify my info in the next 2 hours. The link looked legit at first glance, but the URL had a weird extra 's' in the domain. I almost clicked it because I was distracted and rushing. Instead I opened my bank's app directly and there was nothing flagged. I reported the email to their fraud team and they confirmed it was a phishing attempt. Now I double check every link before clicking, especially when I'm not at my home desk. Anyone else almost fall for a fake bank email while working in public?

2 comments

2 Comments

kimr1022d ago

You mention being "distracted and rushing" and that's exactly what got me once too. I used to think I was too careful to fall for phishing, that I would spot anything fake right away. Then last year I got an email that looked just like it was from my credit card company. The logo was correct, the wording sounded official, and they said my account was locked due to suspicious activity. I was multitasking and almost clicked the link before I noticed the sender address was from a free email service, not the bank. Now I always go directly to the website or app instead of clicking anything in an email, especially when I'm out and about and not fully focused. It's easy to let your guard down when you're busy in a public place like that coffee shop.

ray36322d ago

Same here. I used to roll my eyes at people who fell for phishing scams, like how can you not see it coming? Then I got one that looked exactly like a shipping notification from Amazon, which I use all the time. The logo was spot on and the tracking number looked real, but I was in a hurry and almost tapped the link on my phone. Caught it last second when I saw the URL was some random string of letters. Totally changed how I look at this stuff. Now I always stop and check the sender address before I click anything, even when I'm in a rush.