We like to hear from our friends. Hackers know that. So, they come to us disguised to look like our friends. Via e-mail.
I’ve been seeing an increase recently in e-mails that appear to be from someone I know, but that are actually from someone else. That someone else probably gained access to their address book, since they are sending out e-mails to lots of people that friend knows, pretending to be them.
They are not as thorough with their disguise in this latest variation as they could be, and that makes discovering their deception easier. But, it is still easy to be fooled, if you are not cautious.
Be alert to anything that doesn’t look right. Look carefully at the sender’s address. That may help you with this variation of deceptive e-mail. Unfortunately, next year’s variation may not be so easy to spot. Even the current ones can catch you by surprise. And they are catching a lot of people by surprise.
The biggest lesson?
Just because it says it comes from your friend, doesn’t mean it does.
Be alert to anything that doesn’t look quite right.