What is Phishing and How to Prevent It

In the past few years, digital crimes that attempt to steal victims’ data, or what is popularly called phishing, have become popular again. Everyone can be exposed to phishing without exception, therefore it is important for everyone to always be alert.

Phishing can threaten personal data, result in stolen data being misused, and can even result in material loss for the victim. For this reason, it is important for us to know how to prevent phishing and know what to do if we have already become a victim of phishing.

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What is Phishing?

Phishing is a digital crime where the perpetrator aims to steal someone’s personal data. The stolen personal data is generally names, dates of birth, telephone numbers and identity card numbers. Phishing perpetrators also often steal email addresses and passwords or credit card numbers for misuse.

How Does Phishing Happen?

Phishing is an attack attempt to trick you into providing sensitive information. The following are the characteristics of phishing that are widespread:

1. Sending emails/WhatsApp messages containing links.
   Messages sent are generally on behalf of well-known companies or brands. If the recipient clicks on the link in the message, the recipient will be directed to a website that resembles the original website and asked to fill in data, such as username, password or personal data.
2. Sending documents to view/download files
   To get you interested, the messages received usually contain incentives for discounts or gifts. Then you will be directed to enter personal data to get the promotion or prize.

Once the data is obtained, it will be used by fraudsters for various crimes, for example selling it to other parties, committing scams, and even registering for online loans using this data.

Also Read: Know the Stages of Financial Freedom

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Phishing?

Prudence is the main asset for protecting personal data. Apart from that, always make sure that you never share personal data with just anyone.

The following are things you need to pay attention to so that you can avoid phishing crimes:

1. Never click on links sent by dubious or unclear sources. Often times, the links sent are interesting promotions or even invitations or ostensibly important information from people you know. Not infrequently, the sender will continue to try to persuade and convince you to click on the link he sent.
2. Recognize the types of files that may be dangerous and contain viruses that can steal your data. Currently, the types of files that are widely circulated for phishing are APK files and files that resemble .pdf. If you are not sure about the file you received, you can ask someone who understands this. Or if files are sent as if from an official account, you can contact their customer service.
3. Get to know your official accounts, especially your financial and banking services. For Manulife Indonesia, the official WhatsApp account is Manulife Indonesia with a green tick. Meanwhile, the social media account (Instagram) is Manulife Indonesia with a blue tick.
4. Because phishing is also often carried out via email, it is also important to know how to identify official emails. The official email sent from Manulife Indonesia, apart from containing a message, also has a banner containing general information.
5. Save the customer service number in your cell phone. When you are unsure about information, you can directly contact the customer service number to find out the truth of the information. If there are matters related to Manulife, you can contact the Manulife Contact Center

What should you do if you click on a suspicious link?

Sometimes, even after being careful, we can still make mistakes or accidentally click on suspicious links. If this happens, the first thing to do is not to panic.

Here are the steps you should take if you click on a suspicious link:

1. If the link is sent via WhatsApp or SMS, immediately block the sender’s number, then report the number as spam.
2. Turn off the internet network on your device, then clear the browser history and cache on the device,
3. To prevent personal data from being compromised, contact the Manulife Contact Center immediately . Tell the officer what happened and what steps you have taken, then the officer will help you with the next steps.

Prevention is Better Than Sorry

Preventing misuse of personal data is an effort that must be carried out together. We at Manulife Indonesia will always try to maintain the confidentiality of your personal data.

However, we also need your help to be careful in providing your personal data and always be alert to the possibility of increasingly sophisticated methods of fraud.

By jointly implementing prevention, it is hoped that there will be fewer victims who fall as a result of fraud through phishing. If there is any other information regarding phishing that you still need, please contact the Manulife Contact Center or Instagram @Manulife_id.