There’s a new Gmail phishing scam happening. This one is really sophisticated too. It even stumped those that are more tech-savvy. Since it’s our mandate to keep you safe, we thought you might want to know about the details of the latest Gmail account hack attempt.
How the Scam Works
You know not to open an email from someone you don’t know, right? Good. But this scam makes that logic obsolete. This time around, the email might come from someone you do know - or at least an email address that you recognize. Inside the email is an attachment - and it might even be an attachment that looks familiar to you or looks like an image someone you know might send.
Once you click on that image, you might be expected to see a larger version of the image on your screen - but here’s where things go awry. Instead of seeing that image, you will be asked to sign in to your Gmail account once again. If you go through that step, the hackers will have full access to your account.
So how do you avoid this scam from impacting your life?
What to Do
When you sign in to your Gmail account, you should see the following link in your URL bar:
- https://accounts.google.com: If you see this link instead - do not proceed:
- data:text/html (ahead of the link above)
Quickly Spreading
Once hackers have gained access to your account, they can see your contact list, download some images that you have sent or stored, and then continue the scam. So make sure to pay attention to the URL when you sign in to your account. Once your account has been compromised, it’s hard to get it back.
