Three days is all it took to spend her $1.6 Million.

In 2012, an email which appeared legitimate coaxed a British woman to click a link and enter her banking credentials into a realistic-enough website. While she thought she was checking her account, she had just turned over the keys to her checking account. A 14-person cybergang confiscated $1.6 Million from her, which she had been saving to buy a property. Eventually the scammers were arrested, but not before they spending the money on everything from gold bars to cheeseburgers.

Her life savings were gone.

Phishing is an incredibly common and often successful means of financial fraud. Every day, over 150 million phishing emails are sent, and 80,000 new people fall victim. These losses exceeded $676 Million in 2017 alone.

According to the FBI, Phishing is often used in conjunction with a spoofed e-mail. It is the act of sending an e-mail falsely claiming to be a legitimate business in an attempt to deceive the recipient into divulging sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account information.

Identifying those fraudulent emails can be tough. The imposter email often closely resembles the real thing. However, if you don’t open those emails with some skepticism, it’s easy to end up turning over your personal information. Once the scammers have that, it can be almost impossible to prevent fraudulent activity or theft.

Below are four simple ways to help avoid becoming a Phishing victim

Use Context Clues

If something about an email you received seems off, don’t trust it. You can check the sender’s address by double clicking their name. Often times the display name will sound legitimate, but the senders address is an unusual web address. Mousing over the link will also display the actual web URL, which may be different than what the link says it is.

Verify through outside means

If an email is asking you to log into a financial account, you can close the email and go to your account by going directly to the website. By no means should you use a link or provided within the email. Most banks let you know messages are available, but don’t send outside links anyways.

Don’t trust anything blindly

If you’ve received a message from a friend or company that seems suspicious, pick up the phone and call them directly. This can help you determine whether the message was legitimate. Our office has a policy of never transacting accounts or moving money through email, and it’s helped us and our clients avoid fraudulent money requests more than once.

Take advantage of extra security with accounts

Many large financial institutions offer extra security through their website if you want it. 2 Factor Authentication is growing in popularity. It requires your username and password, along with a text or phone call to verify you are the only logging into your account. This can prevent access to anyone who has only has your username and password.