Attackers gather crucial information about their targets through social media, websites or services you may subscribe to, and company websites you work for before launching their attack to make them more effective.

Cyber criminals send fake job postings under an alias to gather personal information. Other alias examples can often include a friend on social media, a family member, a service or company you use, a professor, and even your boss.

By sending spam mail to gather out-of-office messages that may provide information they can use, such as how long an individual will be absent, how they format their emails or signatures, and where they will be located (conference, medical leave, vacation, etc.) attackers can more effectively impersonate someone via email.

Attackers send falsely “urgent” messages to try and scare recipients into sharing important personal information quickly without thoroughly thinking it though. 

Always verify the source of any messages requesting sensitive information to ensure you are not being scammed.

Never provide or enter your log in credentials to your accounts to unverified sources.