---
title: Preventing Email Phishing and Spoofing
description: Awareness and critical thinking skills are vital to prevent losses associated with email phishing and spoofing.
---

[Our Blog ](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/blog)

# [Preventing Email Phishing and Spoofing](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/blog/preventing-email-phishing-and-spoofing)

 Written by [Total Digital Security](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/blog/author/total-digital-security) | November 17, 2020

## Prevent Loss from Phishing and Spoofing Emails

Anyone using email should be aware of [phishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing) and [spoofing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spoofing) emails. In many cases, these fraudulent emails rely on the user's actions to be effective. 

> ***"It's easier to hack a human than it is to hack their technology."  ***Hackers and cybercriminals everywhere.

**✓  **Increased awareness and critical thinking skills for email is vital for security and safety.

- **Email spoofing** is the creation of email messages with a [forged](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_forgery?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-86zGbqqe0-JcekF9b7x-r1atHA2gxxQ-SbGjoIoG-l010mCEWRD90yWbvS28fjkvg3hUXp) sender address.
- **Phishing** is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Many of these emails are not on their own dangerous or malicious - they require an action by the email user to be effective for the hacker.  This is known as "[social engineering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-86zGbqqe0-JcekF9b7x-r1atHA2gxxQ-SbGjoIoG-l010mCEWRD90yWbvS28fjkvg3hUXp)"  - a term that means psychological manipulation.

**Whack - a mole** - Eventually, the email address a hacker uses for these exploits will be blocked as they become identified as malicious. But, by then, they have moved on and are sending new exploits from a fresh address.

✓  Many phishing and spoofing emails are not blocked and cannot be stopped because they do not contain anything known to be malicious.

## What to do

First, you can always contact us by sending a screenshot or forwarding a suspect email for analysis. The main thing is to not trust anything until you can credentialize the email. 

**✓  **Treat every email in your inbox as ***"guilty until proven innocent"  ***and ***"when in doubt, delete it out."***

**✓ ** Take a screenshot of the suspect email, and forward it to support@totaldigitalsecurity.com for analysis.

**✓  **Refer to this handy guide **"22 Red Flags"** by our world-class partner KnowBe4 - the preeminent anti-phishing training firm. Click the image for a download:

<https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/hubfs/22redflags.pdf>

## Stopping spam and managing your inbox

For more resources, be sure to visit our Support pages:

**✓   ****How to Avoid Email Spoofing:**

[https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/support-resources/private-email/how-to-avoid-email-spoofing](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/support-resources/private-email/how-to-avoid-email-spoofing)

**✓   ****How to Stop Spam:**

[https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/support-resources/private-email/how-to-stop-spam](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/support-resources/private-email/how-to-stop-spam)<https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/support-resources/private-email/how-to-stop-spam>

 

For more about Total Digital Security and "Cybersecurity for Life" please contact us.

[View full post](https://www.totaldigitalsecurity.com/blog/preventing-email-phishing-and-spoofing)

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