Spoofing

Spoofing, as it pertains to cyber security, is when someone or something pretends to be something else in an attempt to gain our confidence, get access to our systems, steal data, steal money, or spread malware. Spoofing attacks come in many forms,

So how do the cybercriminals fool us? Often times, merely invoking the name of a big, trusted organization is enough to get us to give up information or take some kind of action. For example, a spoofed email from PayPal or Amazon might inquire about purchases you never made. Concerned about your account, you might be motivated to click the included link.

From that malicious link, scammers will send you to a web page with a malware download or a faked login page—complete with a familiar logo and spoofed URL—for the purpose of harvesting your username and password.

There are many more ways a spoofing attack can play out. In all of them, fraudsters rely on victims falling for the fake. If you never doubt the legitimacy of a website and never suspect an email of being faked, then you could become a victim of a spoofing attack at some point.

To that end, this page is all about spoofing. We'll educate you on the types of spoofs, how spoofing works, how to discern legitimate emails and websites from fake ones, and how to avoid becoming a target for fraudsters.