Phishing emails are getting more and more sophisticated – How to avoid being scammed?

No matter who you are, what you do, or where you are in the world, the likelihood of receiving spam emails and phishing messages is almost obvious. In fact, you may have hundreds of them sitting quietly in your Spam folder as you read this.

The best email providers and antivirus software can help you filter out most suspicious emails. However, no system is perfect. So you need to learn how to recognize phishing emails to avoid falling for them. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

Always verify the sender's identity

If you receive an email from someone you know that you don’t expect, treat it as suspicious. Emails from friends and family are usually related to an ongoing conversation, or at least have some context. So if an email comes out of the blue, especially one with a link attached, stop and ask yourself: “Is this really from them?”

One of the most common tricks hackers use is to take control of an email account and send spam to all of the victim’s contacts. These emails often contain links that look harmless, but are actually traps designed to install malware or steal personal data.

The good news is that you can avoid this situation entirely by simply verifying. Give the person a quick call, or send them a text asking, “Did you just email me?” If they respond with a blank stare, you have your answer.

Also, don't just look at the display name in an email. Double-check the actual sending address behind the name. Hackers love to spoof familiar brands to fool you.

Always check links in emails

The safest way to handle unfamiliar emails is to never click on any links, even if you think you know the sender. As mentioned, “familiarity” can sometimes be a disguise.

Clicking on a wrong link in an email is how many people fall victim to sophisticated phishing campaigns.

However, if you are sure that the email is legitimate and not a scam, there is a way to check the link before clicking it. Simply hover your mouse over the link in the email. A small box will appear, usually in the lower left corner of your browser or email client, showing the real address that the link will lead to.

With suspicious links, the telltale signs are often obvious: a URL that looks strange, long, or jumbled, or contains a domain name that doesn't match the site you're thinking of, is often a clear indicator of a malicious site.

In short, remember that in the online world, one careless click can be an open door to risk, so it's best to look before you click.

Spelling mistakes - classic sign of phishing emails

One of the easiest ways to spot a suspicious email is by looking for spelling errors, confusing punctuation, or “unusual” word usage. Many phishing campaigns originate from places where English is not the primary language, and this is often evident through awkward sentences, bad grammar, or words used completely out of context.

Of course, anyone can make typos, and even emails from colleagues or friends are not immune to small errors. But if you’re reading an email that sounds like it was written while drunk, or that requires you to reread it several times to understand the meaning, you’re almost certainly looking at a phishing email.

A little tip: If you find yourself laughing or feeling “off” while reading, trust your gut. Mark it as spam and move on. In the digital world, sometimes intuition is the best defense.

Be wary of emails from big companies

Unless you're using a paid service, it's rare to receive personal emails from Facebook, Apple, or Google.

These tech giants don't email you just to "chat" or vaguely warn you that "there's a problem with your account."

If they do need to be contacted, it's usually to notify you of a payment, a security change, or an unusual login.

And no matter who you are, you should enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all your online accounts. It's one of the strongest layers of defense against intruders.

Most major companies will never ask you for your password via email, and they usually don't include clickable links. Real emails are usually just informational.

If you want to check, open your browser yourself and log in directly to your account on the official site, never go through the shortcut in the email.

Text messages are even more dangerous than email

Admittedly, sometimes messages like “Your Amazon package is delayed, click here to check” are genuinely curious. Especially if you have an order waiting to be shipped, such messages can easily strike a chord. But more often than not, they’re just cleverly designed traps designed to trick you into clicking on a malicious link.

Text messages are even more dangerous than emails. That's because it's almost impossible to see where the link actually leads unless you know how to preview the content.

Smartphones today have the ability to display image previews, but modern phishing scams have bypassed that feature. The result is a seemingly harmless message that is actually a trap with no warning.

If you get a message about an order, your bank account, or any other service you use, ignore it. Instead, open your browser and go directly to the official website (e.g. Amazon.com). If something is really behind schedule, you’ll see it in your order history.

More subtle cases that can make you wonder, such as messages using your real name, or content that sounds “related to your real life,” should also be a cause for concern.

Don't click on a link if you're not sure about the source. If the message comes from someone you know, verify it through another channel, such as calling or private messaging them, to ask if they really sent it.

And finally, ignoring is the smart choice. No one has anything to lose by ignoring a suspicious message. But clicking on the wrong link? The cost could be your digital identity.

In short, the best antivirus software for Windows today can do a pretty good job of filtering out phishing emails and warning you about the risks. But no matter how smart the technology is, the vast majority of phishing and malware attacks only succeed if you actually click on the link embedded in them.

There are still “zero-click” malware attacks, where victims don’t need to do anything to be infected. However, these attacks are extremely complex, expensive, and usually only target “high-profile” targets such as government officials, investigative journalists, or high-profile individuals.

For most of us, the average user, the danger still comes from curiously clicking on shady links in emails or messages.

So the rule of thumb is, if you’re not sure, don’t click. No matter how “appealing” the link looks, no matter how well the content hits your fancy, your safety is always worth a little more than a little curiosity. Don’t let an accidental click be your ticket to hackers.