Recently I received a Phishing scam email that was written to target people who host websites with a popular hosting company (in this instance, HostGator clients). The email subject was “web hosting update” and read:
“Due to the system maintenance, we kindly ask you to take a few minutes to confirm your FTP details.
Please confirm your FTP details by using the link below:”
As with all Phishing attemplts, the link did not link to Hostgator servers, but the scammers fake, deceptive website. You can generally view the destination URL by hovering OVER a link in an email in programs such as Outlook, noting that scammer URLS usually start out with what looks like a legitimate address but on careful examination continue on to a longer domain name (ex. http://paypal.com.leggtts.co.uk or such)
As always, be careful when receiving requests from companies to ‘confirm’ or ‘reset’ your login information. Always use your own bookmarked links to access your accounts, not one in an email that say “use the link below”.