Phishing scams rise as scammers use the devastation of Hurricane Harvey for their own personal gain1 min read

Two ideas often used by phishers are a fake subscription invoice or a fake sob story. They use this technique to get an instant reaction from the readers so they don’t have time to think things through properly. Therefore, making them more likely to fall for the scam.

Recently phishers have been catching people out who were trying to donate money to help those affected by the floods in Texas. The phishers sent out emails and setup fake donation sites. As the victims were actually often finding the site themselves they were less likely to suspect anything was suspicious, compared to getting a random email. The scams using the very real issues in Texas also added to the realism of the scam, giving less reason for the victims to doubt it authenticity. The added realism can catch even the most security conscious people out.