About 83 per cent of the IT teams in Indian organizations had reported a drastic increase in the frequency of phishing emails targeting their employees in the year, 2020.
Email fraud popularly known as Phishing has existed for 25 years now. It is still quite prevalent as well as effective as the ways keep evolving. Conmen devise novel methods of getting to the most vulnerable sections and also manage to hoodwink them. The pandemic further exacerbated the phishing attacks as most individuals were already panicky and gripped by a sense of fear. Their fear psychosis was leveraged to target them and earn some easy money.
Calls and emails of crooks posing as Recruitment Managers from certain banks and other financial institutions have resulted in losses worth over 30 crores up to now. They usually go after the younger job applicants as they are desperate for a job and more likely to divulge financial details without second thoughts. When sending out emails, these swindlers copy the logos of financial institutions in order to lend it an authentic touch. Most emails can’t be differentiated as they are extremely similar to the ones sent by actual banks. The only way to find out is through outsourcing the work of verification to a fraud mitigation company. Such background check companies have the expertise and know-how of dealing with similar situations and are able to accurately point out the likelihood of the email being from a fraudster.
The state-of-the-art technologies and automated platforms that they utiliseutilize to ascertain the credentials of such senders generate reports in short spans. Phishing is considered by a few firms to be a low-level threat but in all actuality, it isn’t. Just a single fraudulent email could empty the coffers of someone who has probably worked their entire lives in order to accumulate that sum. Attackers constantly use these phishing emails to trick people into installing certain malware into their smartphones, laptops, tablets and the like.
Whatsapp is another channel through which they can trick people into clicking on links that may reveal confidential financial information.

A rise in the digital modes of payment has also contributed to these phishing attacks that take place consistently. Some common ways are sending links through unverified numbers, sending out emails that may contain these harmful links, asking users to download and then using screen-sharing apps. Fraud Mitigation has gained a lot of popularity over the years as the number of fraudulent individuals keeps increasing with each passing year. As per reports collated by the Federal Trade Commission, 4.8 million Identity theft frauds took place in 2019.
Nearly every Indian consumer has been tricked by these scammers in some form or the other into giving in, either through emails or through texts. One needs to be aware of fake caller Ids and only receive calls from verified contacts.
Pop-ups with an urgent call to action are a red flag. You need to ignore or report them. Personal messages from random phone numbers must be deleted right away as they can only spell trouble.
Tech support will never ask you for payment so, you must refrain from entertaining them. Bitcoins, gift cards must be avoided at all costs.
Only download applications that are secure and legitimate. Software from a third party needs to be avoided. Use your official app store for all downloads.
As per the latest statistics, phishers are able to convince up to 5 per cent of all those who are targeted and respond to them. Sometimes just opening an email can provide the sender access to all your contacts and so, such emails should be deleted or reported immediately.

Fraud in some form or the other will always exist as long as humans inhabit the planet. The silver lining to which is the proliferation of background verification firms in the country. Almost everyone has understood how imperative screening someone’s background is. All major industry sectors have their background screening policies in place to keep criminals and trouble-makers away.
Phishing too can be combated when one seeks the services of a credible background check firm well before time.
Millow is India’s bankable background verification company. We leverage our proprietary technology & stringent processes and provide you BGV reports in the shortest amount of time. If you need to get your employees, vendors, business partners, loan applicants, or even yourself/profile verified, do reach out on:
Email: info@millow.io
Contact: 011 41219183