And believe us, it is not easy to detect! We’ll tell you more about the warning signs to look out for.
Today, hackers are so inventive that even the most vigilant users can fall for it. Recently, a new fraud attempt is wreaking havoc, targeting the 2.5 billion Gmail customers. Whether you’re a seasoned or occasional user, it’s important to know how to spot the red flags to prevent your personal information from falling into the wrong hands.
It all starts with a notification, received on your smartphone or computer, asking you to confirm an action on your Gmail account. This request may seem innocuous: a simple message to approve a connection attempt or the recovery of a forgotten password. For those who have no reason to doubt, the invitation to validate seems entirely legitimate. Then follows a telephone call, presumably formatted by artificial intelligence, establishing a climate of trust. Very quickly, the telephone exchange highlights the urgent nature of the request, so that you quickly give in to approval.
But that’s where the trap closes. By approving the request, you open your account to scammers, giving them the opportunity to access not only your emails, but also everything related to them. This includes your documents stored on Google Drive, your photos, or even sensitive information on other services that you sign in to through your Google account.
So, to protect yourself from these scams, make sure to enable all available protections on your account, including two-factor authentication. If you ever receive a suspicious notification regarding your account, don’t ignore it, but don’t rush to respond to it either. First analyze the situation in detail and especially the email address of your interlocutor.
In general, the latter appropriates very approximate domain names. And if you think you’ve been tricked, the first thing you should do is change your passwords and review all recent activity on your account. Check for suspicious logins, changes to your settings, and devices connected to your Gmail account. You can also consult Google help to report any attempted fraud. Finally, inform those around you of these scams to prevent others from falling for them. The more users are aware of these new techniques, the less likely scammers will be to succeed.