How does the attacker trick you into doing this?
They rely on four general strategies… appealing to greed, appealing to fear, appealing to authority or relying on human kindness.
Appeal to greed:
an attacker will offer you some method to make some easy money.
Appeal to fear:
the hacker will tell you your bank account has been hacked, or tell you your computer has been filled with malware and must be cleaned immediately.
Appeal to authority:
a hacker will attempt to mimic someone in charge and ask you to do something because of their position.
Appeal to human kindness:
they may send an email stating they really need your help to do “X.” It may even appear to be from someone you know.
Every one of these scenarios can occur over email, chat, text, the phone or even in person.
In all of these situations, you can avoid being a victim with a few strategies.
Take your time.
Don’t let them force you to make a decision. Spend a few minutes asking yourself if this is a good idea.
Verify their identity.
Verify they are who they say they are through an outside channel.
Be very careful with email attachments.
If you were not expecting it, verify that the sender intended to send it to you.
Do not click on a link in an email.
until you’ve hovered your mouse over it to reveal where it truly leads and it is where you expected it to go.