What is Phishing?

In the net of scammers

Worldwide, 25% of all cybercrime damages are due to phishing and this number is increasing year by year.

Phishing is a combination of the words "password" and "fishing" and stands for a method to steal passwords. To do this, scammers send fake emails or text messages designed to trick people into revealing passwords and other personal data, such as financial information or usernames.

The emails used look deviously similar to those from legitimate organizations, companies or online merchants.

Typically, a phishing email contains a counterfeit link that the criminals use to acquire passwords.

With urgent-sounding subject lines such as "Your account has been blocked" or "Verify your access data" and "Your password has expired", the perpetrators lure you, via the link contained in the email, to genuine-looking copies of the original website of the supposed sender.

On the manipulated website, sensitive data, such as the PIN, passwords and credit card information, is supposed to be entered into an input form in order to reactivate an account or gain access to a service. But instead, this is where the cybercriminals grab the highly sensitive information.

Phishing e-mails sometimes also contain dangerous attachments. Once opened, these files can install malware on your device, which will transmit data to the fraudsters or can lead to a subscription trap.

Anyone who falls for a phishing attack might have to deal with malware infections, identity theft and data loss, and immense financial damage.

How to protect yourself

One thing above all helps against the theft of data by phishing: Stay alert!

The positive news is that you can protect yourself against data theft through phishing with some simple rules:

1. Do not react to messages of unknown origin
2. If you are doubtful: read the content carefully and pay attention to the supposed sender - often phishing messages contain spelling mistakes and strange senders
3. Ignore the request to enter your data on unknown websites
4. Never open an e-mail attachment unless you expect it by prior arrangement
5. Inform yourself with the help of the phishing radar of consumer advice centers

Solaris SE or one of its partners will never ask you to open websites from an e-mail and enter personal account data there. As your trusted bank, Solaris is committed to preventing Internet fraud, which is why we cooperate with the German authorities.