If you have ever received an email telling you to verify your account information, especially with an organization where you have no such account, you have seen phishing. Many would-be scammers blanket email accounts in hopes that a small percentage of recipients will fall for their con. Phishing is a numbers game knowing that some people will either purposefully or accidentally give away their information or money.

Spearphishing, on the other hand, is not a numbers game. Rather than casting a wide net, spearphishers will do their research to target you specifically. It often takes the form of highly-specific emails, phone calls, texts or social media messages.

For example, one new spearfishing method seeks to collect two-factor authentication codes for banking accounts. The scammers will pose as a representative from your financial institution asking you to verify a nonsense expense. By this time, they have already somehow managed to get your contact information and the place where you bank—which is enough for many to let their guard down.

Unfortunately, since these scams can take many forms, there is no single trick to identifying a spearphishing attack. However, most spearphishing attempts seem to have one thing in common: the scammer will try to scare you into acting fast. Spearphishers hope that fear, urgency or embarrassment will cause your brain will jump into “fight or flight” mode—where rational thought tends to take a backseat. 

You can find helpful tips about avoiding spearphishing, as well as information about a free cybersecurity training program offered through the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network right now on our website. Just visit WyomingSBDC.org and check out the latest post in our blog section. Additionally, our cybersecurity experts are always available to give confidential, no-cost advising to all Wyoming entrepreneurs and small business owners.