Phishing scams: 7 safety tips from a cybersecurity expert

Phishers are crafty and their scams are always evolving. weerapatkiatdumrong by Thembekile Olivia Mayayise, University of the Witwatersrand Recently, one of my acquaintances, Frank, received an email late on a Monday afternoon with the subject line, “Are you still in the office?” It appeared to come from his manager, who claimed to be stuck in a long meeting without the means to urgently purchase online gift vouchers for clients. He asked for help and shared a link to an online platform, from which Frank bought R6,000 (about US$325) worth of gift vouchers. Once he’d sent the codes he received a second email from the “boss” requesting one more voucher. At that point, Frank reached out to his boss through WhatsApp and discovered he’d been duped. Frank had fallen prey to a phishing scam. This is just one example of many from my own circles. Other friends and relatives – some of them seasoned internet users who know about the importance of cybersecurity – have also fallen prey to phishing scams. I am a cybersecurity professional who conducts research on and teaches various cybersecurity topics. In recent years I have noticed (and confirmed through research) that some organizations and individuals seem...