Individuals today are typically familiar with the term ‘online fraud’ and fraudulent activities that include online scams, spam, identity theft, stealing credit/debit card information etc. An incident like losing your wallet can risk your credit/debit cards, whereby along with a risk to your finances, you are also subjected to misuse of important identity cards.
Many individuals were/are already duped through these fraudulent online activities and suffered substantial financial losses. Among them, one of the most common types of online fraud that has surfaced, and one should be aware of is phishing, which is devised in different types to lure unsuspecting online users. The meaning of phishing thus also includes all the subtypes that have surfaced recently.
Protect yourself from a phishing scam
Many individuals are not adequately aware of the meaning of phishing and can suffer through financial losses due to unsuspecting emails sent to them. It is generally described as a fraudulent activity that steals private information of the user such as credit card information, login credentials, passwords etc. via cloaked information.
Commonly, cybercriminals and hackers do all these activities by using email or with other mediums of electronic communication. They disguise themselves as an entity, belonging from an authentic organisation to obtain sensitive data. You may thus recognise such a duping mechanism around you by identifying any of the following types.
Types of phishing scams and their identification
The following elaborates the different types of phishing scams with their description that would help you avoid falling prey to one.
- Deceptive phishing: It often accompanies an email from an ID looking like an authorised organisation or body, asking you to follow a set of instructions to proceed with rectification to your current information.
- Spear phishing: It often accompanies login page links, wherein providing your login credentials would end up compromising such data.
- CEO fraud: It aims to leverage any security infrastructure loophole or inconsistency to create spear phishing emails. You may come across an email sent from a well-known individual related to an organisation can be a type of such a fraud.
- Whaling: Cybercriminals masquerading as a trending social media image or personality is a prime example of whaling you might want to look out for.
- Vishing: Fraudsters approaching you via a phone call, asking for information in exchange for prize money is commonly known as vishing.
- Smishing: It is often a scam email twin that approaches users via simple text messages.
- Pharming: Expanding the meaning of phishing, pharming has reached a step ahead to include web pages that serve as lookalikes of actual pages, collecting essential user data.
With this understanding of what is phishing and its types, one also needs to adopt ways to protect oneself from financial losses arising out of such fallacies. A suitable insurance plan in place thus comes off as an adequate protection cover.
Bajaj Finserv provides the Wallet Care protection plan under its Pocket Insurance & Subscriptions that covers you financially with complimentary fraud protection in case of such financial losses arising out of digital data compromise. Such coverage benefits extend up to Rs.2 lakh.
Further, cyber scams have been on an alarming increase, including unauthorised transactions, tele-phishing and other payment frauds. It thus becomes crucial to protect your finances from cyber fraud by choosing a cyber security cover.
Compromise to one’s identity these days can further subject individuals to immense trouble, both financially and otherwise. Thus, with identity assure plan in place can be a suitable solution to cover losses arising out of identity theft.
With these coverage options, along with a precise idea regarding the meaning of phishing and its identification, one can safely proceed to operate online. Make sure to gain a comprehensive understanding of other types of cyber frauds and remain alert of your sensitive credentials’ compromise.
