Can You Get Hacked If You Open a Phishing Email? | Aura

Intro hey i'm max with aura and today we're talking about what happens when you open a spam email so you've accidentally opened a spam email and now you're wondering is that bad and if so how bad is it the good news is that opening a suspicious email while not ideal is relatively harmless spam emails only become a serious threat if you've committed any of the following actions you've downloaded any malicious files or email attachments you've responded with sensitive information like credit card or bank account numbers or you've clicked on any links so why did you get a spam email in the beginning and how did scammers get your email address when How does email spamming work spam messages successfully bypass spam filters and reach your inbox it's because scammers were able to identify that your email address is valid there are a number of different ways that How did spammers get my email address spammers could have obtained your email address including scraping public records guessing buying email lists a data breach or scraping social media sites it's really easy to scrape sites like linkedin for personal contact info so can spammers actually see that you've Can spammers see that I've opened an email opened the email well that depends spammers will be able to tell that you've opened an email if you've downloaded any attachments or clicked on any links which you should never ever do or if your email client automatically loads any images that are embedded in the message it's true scammers can actually gain a lot of data about you if you have automatic image loading turned on if you have automatic image loading enabled scanners may be able to see your location your internet service provider or mobile carrier the device that you use to open the email email clients you're using or even the web browser that you're using so the key takeaway is turn off automatic image loading most email services will allow you to disable automatic image loading in your email account settings so if you've opened a What should I do after I've opened a spam email spam email but haven't clicked on or downloaded anything don't just unsubscribe mark it as a junk email so that your email client can do a better job of sending these malicious emails directly to your spam folder scan your computer for ransomware trojan horse viruses and any other malware just in case and tell friends family and your employer if the email was sent to your work address to steer clear of similar email messages and as a rule of thumb do not engage with any sketchy looking emails since it's probably a phishing scam and never reply directly to it you Beware of links want to beware of links hackers are experts at sending phishing emails with malicious links that look almost identical to legitimate emails so pay close attention to formatting errors in these emails as they can be an obvious indicator of spam so what happens if you've opened an attachment or clicked on a spam if you've downloaded a corrupt attachment or clicked on a link that's taken you to a suspicious webpage disconnect from the internet without an internet connection there's less of a Disconnect from the internet chance that the malware can send data from your device to the hackers or monitor your activity remotely using spyware backup your files make copies of Backup your files your most sensitive information documents photos videos and other keepsake files and then store them on an external drive change your passwords Change passwords immediately immediately malware can be used to crack usernames and passwords for any of your online accounts including but not limited to social media banking crypto email and shopping accounts changing all of your passwords will lock out the con artist as spam and phishing techniques get more sophisticated it's important to arm yourself with the right tools to prevent scammers from stealing your sensitive data and invading your devices it's a great idea to invest in an identity theft monitoring service to ensure that you're proactively notified of any attacks or breaches as early as possible so if you've been phished and recognized any warning signs of identity theft aura is here to help aura keeps you safe by detecting and blocking malware such as viruses ransomware spyware trojans and more all aura plans come with a one million dollar insurance policy that covers eligible losses due to identity theft so check out aura.com for a 14-day free trial we'll see you next time