There are so many scams out there on the internet that it is pretty understandable that quite a few people out there are hesitant to take a lot of the communications that they receive through online platforms all that seriously. However, at the end of the day the fact of the matter is that if you have an online profile you are going to interact with people through it, and if you are working in a professional setting sometimes it becomes exceedingly important for you to communicate with people through digital mediums since this is the most efficient way for you to get the message across to as many people as possible.
The latest scam that is going around is on LinkedIn, and the malicious actors that are trying to use this scam in order to skim your personal information are being quite subtle in the techniques that they are applying for this specific purpose. The scam is specifically called a phishing scam because it tries to steal your log in information which can then be sold on the dark net markets for a pretty serious profit, something that would make any malicious actor more than eager to try and access your accounts as quickly as possible.
According to Sophos, the way the scam works is that you would get an email from someone that you might not know personally but who is a business associate that you are connected with through LinkedIn. This email would, on the surface at least, look like the sort of thing that is rather innocuous. The language used in the email would be professional, and you would be asked to click a link that would take you to a website and the URL being used here would look more or less legitimate as well, thereby making you even less suspicious in this regard.
However, when you click on the link you will be redirected to a website that has nothing to do with the subject matter that was discussed in the email. From hacked sites of celebrities to sites that are meant to function as “dating” sites but are rather fake in their approach, these sites are going to be extremely hazardous because of the fact that staying on them for too long might just end up compromising the security of the system that you currently happen to be using.
It’s important to note every detail of an email like this if you happen to get one. For example, the person trying to scam you might use the full name of your acquaintance, whereas your acquaintance might generally use only their first name. Little mistakes like this could help you ascertain whether or not an email is legitimate and this could help prevent you from facing any major problems in the future.
Read next: How Spam Turned From Stressful To Serious Security Problem (infographic)
Featured Photo: StockSnap
The latest scam that is going around is on LinkedIn, and the malicious actors that are trying to use this scam in order to skim your personal information are being quite subtle in the techniques that they are applying for this specific purpose. The scam is specifically called a phishing scam because it tries to steal your log in information which can then be sold on the dark net markets for a pretty serious profit, something that would make any malicious actor more than eager to try and access your accounts as quickly as possible.
According to Sophos, the way the scam works is that you would get an email from someone that you might not know personally but who is a business associate that you are connected with through LinkedIn. This email would, on the surface at least, look like the sort of thing that is rather innocuous. The language used in the email would be professional, and you would be asked to click a link that would take you to a website and the URL being used here would look more or less legitimate as well, thereby making you even less suspicious in this regard.
- Also read: LinkedIn Launches New “Events” Feature
However, when you click on the link you will be redirected to a website that has nothing to do with the subject matter that was discussed in the email. From hacked sites of celebrities to sites that are meant to function as “dating” sites but are rather fake in their approach, these sites are going to be extremely hazardous because of the fact that staying on them for too long might just end up compromising the security of the system that you currently happen to be using.
It’s important to note every detail of an email like this if you happen to get one. For example, the person trying to scam you might use the full name of your acquaintance, whereas your acquaintance might generally use only their first name. Little mistakes like this could help you ascertain whether or not an email is legitimate and this could help prevent you from facing any major problems in the future.
Read next: How Spam Turned From Stressful To Serious Security Problem (infographic)
Featured Photo: StockSnap
