Phishing

About Phishing

Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone, or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking, and credit card details and passwords.

The information is then used to access essential accounts, resulting in identity theft and financial loss.

Helpful Tips on Identifying Phishing emails

• Bad spelling and grammar in the text of the email.
• Have a sense of urgency. Hackers word emails to include a sense of urgency to make you react quickly, reducing your time to think and realize the scam.
• Be suspicious of emails that ask for your personal information
• First-Citizens Bank and most other companies will never ask for your credentials via email.
• Please hover over the link before clicking on it to ensure it’s taking you where it says it will take you. Check the website: Is it HTTP or HTTPS? Is it spelled correctly? Is it the company’s website? Some links may be legitimate so make sure you check them all
• If you click the link and are unsure if it is accurate or fake, try a fake password first. If it appears you have signed in, then you are probably on a phishing site.