Phishing email examples and how to identify them

Phishing emails are fraudulent messages that use social engineering tactics to trick you into providing personal information, downloading infected attachments, or clicking malicious links. As cybersecurity technology improves, seemingly simple scam tactics like fake emails continue to be an effective way for scammers to prey on victims and infect devices.

We’ve rounded up some of the most popular phishing email examples to help you spot scam emails before you fall for them.

1. Social media phishing emails

Social media phishing emails can be the launchpad for Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram scams. They usually mimic the platforms’ branding and logo to trick you into clicking malicious links or divulging sensitive data.

Phishing attacks related to social media scams often:

• Urge you to take immediate action to prevent an account from being disabled or deleted.
• Ask you to reset a compromised password or confirm login credentials.
• Include an alert that someone reported you to the administrator.

2. PayPal phishing emails

Common PayPal scams include phishing emails that claim your account is about to be suspended or deleted, you've received a payment, or you’ve been paid too much. These emails often come with a link, prompting you to enter your password on a fake webpage.

Always log into PayPal directly to verify payments and notifications. Report suspicious emails to phishing@paypal.com and delete them from your inbox.

3. Amazon phishing emails

These days many of us shop on Amazon regularly, with multiple orders out at the same time. Amazon scammers take advantage of this by sending emails that pressure recipients to act quickly and include links to fraudulent websites. Clicking these links can lead to a malware infection or information theft.

Examples of Amazon phishing emails include:

• Messages about locked or suspended accounts.
• Shipping emails for items that you didn’t order.
• Prompts to update payment info.
• Fake gift card surveys.

4. Google Docs scams

Users might receive deceptive Google Docs phishing emails that appear to be from friends, coworkers, or a business offering a great deal. The emails contain a malicious link to a supposed shared Google Doc. This link leads to a fake or unsafe website mimicking the Google sign-in page, where entering credentials grants scammers access to the user’s Google account.

5. Suspended account phishing emails

A suspended account phishing email scam is a cyberattack where scammers pose as legitimate companies claiming your account is suspended. They commonly cite reasons like suspicious activity, expired payment methods, or terms of service violations.

Once you click a link, you’ll be redirected to a fake website that looks like a legitimate login page, where scammers capture sensitive information.

6. Unusual activity phishing attempts

Unusual activity phishing emails warn you about suspicious activity on your account and urge you to click a link to log in, change your password, or verify your account. Clicking the link sends you to a fake login page that looks like the business’s official page. Entering your details sends your information to a hacker, who can then access your account.

If you receive an email about usual activity, always independently navigate to the site or account via your web browser, without clicking any links in the email you received. If you’re concerned about unusual activity, you can change your password directly through the site or account affected.

7. CEO phishing emails

CEO phishing emails come from scammers impersonating high-level executives like CEOs. This type of phishing—also known as executive phishing—targets employees, requesting personal information or imploring them to perform urgent tasks like completing wire transfers to vendors or clients. The result is the theft of funds or sensitive data.

8. Fake job scams

Fake job phishing emails, often promising high pay and no skills required, aim to lure people into work-from-home scams. These fraudulent job offers can involve upfront fees or ask for personal information such as Social Security numbers and bank details to get started. They can also include attachments with malware.

9. Apple phishing attacks

This type of phishing email targets users by impersonating Apple services like the App Store or iCloud, trying to trick them into revealing their Apple ID and password. Scammers might include messages warning about security issues, offering storage upgrades, sending fake purchase receipts, or claiming problems with Apple Pay.

These emails contain links to fake websites that mimic Apple's login page. With a user’s Apple ID and password, a scammer could access all the Apple services they use, leading to financial loss and identity theft.

How to recognise a phishing email

When confronted with a phishing email, there are some obvious red flags that can tip you off that it’s a scam. Here are common things you’ll find in phishing emails:

• Generic greetings: Because scammers often target a broad set of victims at one time, they often use generic greetings like "Dear customer," or they may even skip the greeting altogether.
• Grammatical errors: Phishing emails often contain grammatical errors, misspellings, odd capitalisation, and unnatural phrasing. While typos happen, legitimate business emails shouldn’t have these mistakes.
• Low-resolution logos or images: Scammers often use copied logos to appear legitimate, but low-quality, blurry, or improperly sized logos are red flags. Be cautious if a logo looks fuzzy, pixelated, stretched, or requires close inspection to see it clearly.
• Suspicious sender email addresses: Look closely at the sender's email address. Phishers might create addresses that look similar to a real company, but with a minor typo or extra character. For example, “appel.com” instead of “apple.com.”
• Strange URLs: Legitimate companies use clear URLs while phishing emails often link to suspicious ones. Hover your mouse over the link to see the URL before you click it.
• Requests for personal information: Legitimate companies won't ask for sensitive information like passwords or Social Security numbers through email. If an email tells you to verify your account by clicking a link and entering your login details, it's likely a phishing attempt.

If you receive a suspicious email but aren’t sure if it’s legit or not, use a scam detection tool like Norton Genie. Take a screenshot of the suspicious email, then paste it into Norton Genie (being careful not to click any links in the email body!). Genie will then help you identify whether or not the email is a scam.

Looking out for the clues above will help you recognise potential phishing emails and avoid being scammed. But as you can see in some of the example emails, it’s not always easy to spot a fake email. That’s why you need strong antivirus software on all your devices. That way, if you ever do click a malicious link, your device will be equipped to help you detect and block the malware.

What do I do if I clicked a suspicious link in a phishing email?

If you fall for an email scam and click a suspicious link, act quickly. Here's what to do:

• Change your password: Create a secure password using a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols, and use unique passwords for every account to help prevent credential stuffing.
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA): If you haven’t already, navigate to the account mentioned in the phishing email via your browser and activate 2FA (two-factor authentication). This will add an extra layer of protection against hackers trying to crack your account.
• Run antivirus software: A thorough scan will help detect different types of malware that may have infected your device.
• Report the phishing email: Report suspicious emails to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk. You can also forward smishing attack texts to SPAM (7726).
• Alert financial organisations: If you've fallen victim to a phishing attack, alert your credit card providers and the three national credit reference agencies—Experian®, Equifax®, and TransUnion®. These entities can freeze your credit to help stop scammers from opening accounts using your identity.

Get Norton to help protect against phishing and online threats

Scammers have evolved since the days of the Nigerian Prince scam—your security software should be able to keep up too. Advanced security software like Norton 360 Deluxe helps protect you from malicious threats hiding within phishing attack emails and other hard-to-detect online threats.

In fact, Norton blocked over 200 million phishing and scam threats in 2023 alone. Get Norton 360 Deluxe now to help protect against phishing attacks and stay safer online.

FAQs about phishing emails

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about common phishing emails.

How do I protect myself from phishing attacks?

There are a few key things you can do to stay safer against phishing scams:

• Don't click links or attachments in suspicious emails.
• Verify email addresses by looking for typos or suspicious domains (but still be careful as it could be a spoofed email).
• Beware of urgent language meant to pressure you into acting quickly.
• Never share personal information over email.

Can AI be used for phishing attacks?

Yes, scammers can use AI in phishing attacks. AI can personalise phishing emails, catch grammar and spelling errors, and generally make phishing attacks appear more convincing.

How can I report a phishing email?

Most email clients have a button or option to report phishing attempts. You can usually find this option by clicking the “menu” or “options” feature in the email toolbar and selecting “report.”