Email is a means of communication widely used by everyone. It is present both among private users as well as companies and organizations. This causes hackers to set their sights here. Ultimately, they attack where there is the greatest probability of success. For this they use different methods and strategies. Let’s see what tricks they mainly use to get the victim to open an email.
Tricks for the victim to open an email
An attacker cannot sneak malware into an email simply by sending it. For it to be successful, for it to actually infect a system, it needs the interaction of the victim. You will have to find a way for that user to open the email, access a link, or open a file.
For this they are based on social engineering. It basically consists of tricking the victim into believing that they are accessing a legitimate email. The user believes that nothing is going to happen and that he even needs to open that e-mail to carry out any action. Let’s see what are the main tricks that cybercriminals put into practice lately. We must always use e-mail safely.
There is a problem with your account
One of the most frequently used tricks by hackers is to send an email saying that there is a problem with the account . This can be to alert about a failure in the email account itself, but also about any other account in a different service.
The victim will receive that email and will be alarmed when they see “problem with your account.” You will wonder what it is and may see the need to open the email to check. This is how the attackers will achieve their objective of opening it with that bait.
You have been selected for an award
A classic. It is a message that has been used for many years but is still present. Not only trying to make the victim believe that they have won a prize , but also a bonus or discount for one of the most used e-commerce platforms, for example.
They throw a hook in which they indicate in the subject of the message that we have won something, simply so that we open that email. Inside we will very possibly find a link that redirects to a fraudulent page or an attachment that contains malware.
We need information
Another very present issue is that of requesting information . The attackers send an email asking the victim for some kind of information. Typically, they pose as a popular service or platform. We can mention, for example, Amazon, Netflix, eBay, PayPal …
What they do is call attention by indicating that they need to have some data to avoid problems in the use of that service. The victim, to avoid not being able to enter Netflix, Amazon or whatever platform, will open the email.
Maintenance
Requesting to open an e-mail to obtain information about the maintenance of our equipment or account is another of those very common tricks. They can again use services that are very popular and thus have a better chance of success.
They use the name of the victim
A trick that is also widely used and that is quite successful is to send an email with the name of the victim . For this they need a prior investigation to know what it is. This way they get the victim to trust more when receiving an email on their behalf and not a generic one.
Ultimately, these are some of the tricks that hackers take into account to sneak attacks through email. We must always maintain common sense and not make mistakes such as downloading files or opening links.
