Cloned Phishing Scams

Companies send out latest news, sales information and updates to their customers through email very often. If they ever make a mistake these companies sometimes will send out another email correcting the information. Cybercriminals have caught onto this and now started “clone phishing.” 

Cybercriminals are hijacking email accounts of real companies and using them to find a previous email sent to you so they can clone it. They then will clone the email and send it to you like a follow up email. In their follow up email, they would explain that an attachment wasn’t attached in the previous email. They then prompt you to download the attachment to get important details from the email. If you download the attachment you actually are downloading malware which allows the cybercriminals to gain access of your personal and sensitive information.

Tips:

• Always be cautious of messages that cause a sense of urgency. Cybercriminals rely on your impulse actions to trick you into falling for their phishing attack.
• Never click on a link or download an attachment from an email you weren’t expecting. Always verify in an alternative way to find out of the email is legitimate.
• Be cautious when trusting emails. Cybercriminals can steal email addresses that look like trusted emails to trick people.

Learn more tips like this and train your employees with our Security Awareness Training Program.

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