Can you spot a Facebook phishing attempt?

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  • 6286452.png

    This is a reasonably convincing fake, but a fake it is.

    The word photo should be plural. That's the only typo in this message, which otherwise looks very similar to a real Facebook notification.

    Caption by: Ed Bott

  • 6286453.png

    This one's real.

    If you thought it was fake, that's understandable. The link, filled with random strings of numbers and letters, doesn't exactly lend itself to easy parsing. In fact, many phishing attackers use long, complicated links like this one to disguise their true domain.

    Caption by: Ed Bott

  • 6286454.png

    This one's real.

    Oddly, in this example, Facebook uses buttons to provide navigation to comments on items you've posted. In the previous example, you'll recall they used a long, complex URL.

    How do you know whether that button goes to a safe place?Without inspecting it more closely, there's no way to tell. 

    Caption by: Ed Bott

  • 6286455.png

    This one's a fake, but it looks real enough.

    The message offers three separate ways to navigate to its target. A Sign In button that matches the Facebook style, a text link next to the envelope icon, and a long URL at the bottom of the page.

    Every one of these elements should look familar to a Facebook user. Without caerful inspection, it's very difficult to tell that this one isn't legit.

    Caption by: Ed Bott

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This one's real.

If you thought it was fake, that's understandable. The link, filled with random strings of numbers and letters, doesn't exactly lend itself to easy parsing. In fact, many phishing attackers use long, complicated links like this one to disguise their true domain.

Caption by: Ed Bott

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