Phishing Emails Become More Sophisticated

Phishing
Phishing

Beware Phishing Emails
by Mary Sutton

I recently received a phishing email that appears to be from Southwest Airlines. When I first read it, I wondered if I had a $100 voucher left over from a previous trip with Southwest Airlines. But then I realized that would be too good to be true. So I took a closer look at the email to determine if it was a phishing email or not. And it most certainly is a phishing email.
In the attached file, I have highlighted some clues I look for in determining a phishing email.
Does the sender email address match the company name?
Are there any misspellings or poor grammar?
Is the greeting addressed to your email address or is it blank?
When you hover (do not click) on the link in the email, does the URL go to the company website?
A phishing email may not have all of these and just because an email has a misspelling or the greeting is blank, does not mean it is a phishing email. However, these are clues to recommend you investigate further before you click on a link in an email. To find out more about how to “Spot an Email Hoax or Phishing Scam”, click on the link below. And if you’re not sure whether you can trust the link, copy and paste the URL in to a web browser.

More details at: http://www.wikihow.com/Spot-an-Email-Hoax-or-Phishing-Scam