Tech
How to spot phishing when the message looks genuine
Convincing fakes are routine now, so the reliable checks are structural rather than visual.
Judging by appearance stopped working some time ago. Logos, formatting and wording are easy to copy, and messages are now frequently free of the spelling errors people were taught to look for.
What holds up is the combination of urgency and a link. A message creating time pressure — an account closing, a payment failing, a delivery held — and offering a link that resolves it is the standard shape, because pressure is what stops people checking.
The structural check is never to use the route provided. Open a new tab and type the organisation's address yourself, or ring the number on your card or statement. A genuine issue will still be there when you arrive by your own route; a fake one will not exist.
Two specific rules are worth holding absolutely: nobody legitimate asks for a one-time code, and no real organisation requires payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency. Both are present in a large share of successful scams.
What to do next. Never follow the link in the message — reach the organisation by an address or number you found yourself.
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