Discover free phishing protection

“Update Your PayPal account"
"Your eBay user account has been suspended!"

Phishing emails are fraudulent emails that look as if they come from a reliable company or person you know, such as PayPal, your bank, or a friend. They might contain a form for you to complete or include a link to a counterfeit web page, which looks just like the real deal.

On the website, you’re enticed to enter personal information such as a credit card number, PIN number, bank account details, an email address, and password. The fraudsters can then use this data to steal your money or ID, and even commit crimes in your name!

“You’ve been infected”
“Your PC is about to shut down!”

You’re browsing the internet when a small alert or ad appears. That’s a pop-up. Malicious pop-ups can be intrusive and difficult to close. They often look like they come from a trusted source (even Avira!) and contain fake warnings and a phone number or link for “help”.

“Call our IT experts now”
“Premier IT support for less!”

Scammers use paid search ads for their fake support services. These paid listings appear at the top of the results page and look very convincing. Yet when you click the ad, malware may be downloaded that can compromise your security and give scammers access to your personal data.

Fake URLs are easy to spot if you look out for them. But criminals are smarter than that:

Social engineering: Think you can always spot the difference? Try this: http://www.volksbank.com is real and http://www.voIksbank.com is fake. The lower-case “l” has been replaced with an upper case “i”.

Browser vulnerabilities: The fake website may contain a script to exploit your browser. In this case, the real URL is displayed, but the content of the web page is fake.

Pop-up browser windows: The link in the phishing email points to the real website, but another browser window is displayed in front of it. Look out for a missing address bar – that’s often the sign of a fake “window” covering a legitimate website.