One click. That’s all it takes.
One click on the wrong email can lock up your systems, steal your bank credentials, or wire your company’s money to a cybercriminal halfway across the world.
Phishing emails are one of the most common—and effective—tools in a hacker’s arsenal. In fact, over 90% of cyberattacks begin with a phishing email, and small businesses are especially vulnerable. Why? Because they often lack the training, tools, and processes to stop them.
And the cost? It’s not just annoying spam. It’s tens of thousands of dollars lost to wire fraud, ransomware, data leaks, and reputation damage.
Here’s the good news: you can stop most phishing attacks by learning how to recognize the red flags.
In this post, we’ll walk you through:
What phishing emails are and how they trick even smart people
The most common signs of a phishing attempt
How to verify suspicious emails safely
What to do if someone clicks
And how to train your team to become your first line of cyber defense
Let’s protect your inbox—and your bottom line.
What Is a Phishing Email?
Phishing is a type of cyberattack where criminals trick you into handing over sensitive information—usually by email.
The message might look like it’s from your bank, a vendor, a co-worker, or even your own boss. But it’s a fake, designed to get you to click a malicious link, download malware, or give up credentials or money.
Phishing works because it targets people, not systems. It preys on urgency, fear, curiosity, or even trust.
How Phishing Works
A phishing email typically contains one or more of the following tactics:
A spoofed sender—the email appears to come from a trusted source
A sense of urgency or panic—“Your account is locked. Act now!”
A malicious link or attachment—leading to a fake login page, malware download, or payment request
A social engineering trick—using psychology to get you to act without thinking
Common Types of Phishing Attacks
Understanding the types of phishing attacks helps you spot them more easily. Here are a few to watch out for:
1. Mass Phishing (Spray and Pray)
Sent to large groups of people
Generic, low-effort scams like “Your Amazon account is on hold”
Often easy to detect with poor grammar or sketchy formatting
2. Spear Phishing
Highly targeted and personalized
May reference your name, job title, company, or recent activities
Much harder to spot because they feel legitimate
3. Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Spoofs a trusted executive or vendor
Requests urgent actions like wire transfers, invoice payments, or W-2 forms
Often leads to five- or six-figure financial losses
4. Smishing and Vishing
Smishing: Phishing via text message (e.g., “Click this link to verify your bank account”)
Vishing: Phishing via phone call (e.g., “This is the IRS. You owe money.”)
These use the same tricks—just through different channels
Phishing emails don’t need to be sophisticated to work. All it takes is the right timing and the wrong click.
In the next section, we’ll break down the most common red flags so you can spot phishing attempts before they do damage.
Common Red Flags of a Phishing Email
Phishing emails are designed to trick you—but most of them follow predictable patterns. Once you know what to look for, it becomes much easier to spot and stop them before any damage is done.
Here are the most common red flags that can help you identify a phishing email at a glance:
1. Urgent or Threatening Language
Phishing emails often try to create a sense of panic to get you to act quickly without thinking. Phrases like:
“Your account has been suspended!”
“Final warning: payment overdue!”
“Immediate action required to avoid penalties”
Why it works: Urgency triggers emotional decision-making, not logic.
✅ What to do: Take a breath. Don’t rush. Legitimate companies don’t threaten you into action.
2. Unusual Sender or Spoofed Domain
Look closely at the sender’s email address—not just the name.
Example:
billing@paypaI.com(note the capital “i” instead of “l”)A vendor you’ve never worked with suddenly requesting payment
✅ What to do: Hover over the sender’s address or reply-to. If it doesn’t match who it claims to be, don’t trust it.
3. Suspicious Links or Attachments
Links may look legitimate, but they redirect you to fake login pages or malware sites. Attachments often contain infected documents or scripts.
Hidden or misspelled URLs:
yourbank.co-login.comZIP files, .exe files, or Office docs with macros enabled
✅ What to do: Hover over links before clicking. Don’t open attachments unless you’re 100% sure they’re safe.
4. Generic Greetings and Poor Grammar
Phishing emails are often written with poor grammar, spelling mistakes, or awkward phrases.
“Dear user,” instead of your actual name
“Kindly open attachment for important massage”
✅ What to do: If it reads strangely or generically, it’s probably not from a real business contact.
5. Requests for Sensitive Information or Payments
Legitimate companies will never ask you to send passwords, banking info, or social security numbers by email.
“Please verify your login by entering your credentials here”
“We’ve updated our payment method—use this new account”
✅ What to do: Never share sensitive info over email. Always verify requests via a trusted, separate channel.
6. Password-Protected or Unexpected Attachments
Some phishing attacks include password-protected documents that bypass antivirus scanning. Others just send a random attachment with no context.
✅ What to do: Be especially wary of attachments you weren’t expecting—especially from external senders.
7. Inconsistent Branding or Formatting
Check for:
Off-brand logos or formatting
Unfamiliar email signatures
Unusual file names or footers
✅ What to do: Compare the email’s look and feel to past communications from the same company.
When in doubt, don’t click.
A quick second to review these red flags can save your business from hours—or weeks—of costly fallout.
Next, we’ll walk through how to verify suspicious emails safely and what to do if you’re ever unsure.
How to Verify a Suspicious Email (Without Clicking Anything Risky)
Spotting red flags is step one—but what do you do when you’re just not sure whether an email is legitimate or not?
Here’s a simple 3-step process you can follow to verify suspicious emails safely—and avoid taking the bait.
Step 1: Don’t Click—Investigate
Before you interact with the email, take a closer look.
Things to check:
Sender address: Hover over the “From” field—does it match the name and domain it claims to be from?
Links: Hover over any links (don’t click!) to preview the URL—look for misspellings, odd subdomains, or shortened links
Attachments: Ask yourself—were you expecting this file? Is the name or format suspicious?
Tone and formatting: Does the email sound like the sender you know? Is anything off?
Red flag: If anything feels unusual, it probably is.
Step 2: Verify Through a Separate Channel
Never trust the contact info inside a suspicious email.
If you’re being asked to:
Approve a payment
Reset a password
Provide sensitive info
Open an unexpected file
Call, text, or Slack the person directly—using a known contact method, not the phone number or email provided in the message.
Example:
You get a request from your “CEO” asking for a wire transfer. Instead of replying, text or call them to confirm. Spoiler: It’s almost always a scam.
Step 3: Report It (Even If You’re Not Sure)
Many phishing campaigns test the waters—they start small, then follow up later with more dangerous messages once they know you’re responsive.
If an email seems suspicious:
Report it to your IT team or MSP
Use your company’s “Report Phishing” button if available
Forward the email to your security contact for review
Pro tip: Encourage employees to report early and often. Even a false alarm is valuable—it shows your team is alert and thinking like a human firewall.
Quick Summary:
Pause
Investigate
Verify externally
Report internally
Better safe than breached.
How to Train Your Team to Spot Phishing Emails
Even with great tools in place, your employees are your most important line of defense against phishing—and often your most vulnerable. The good news? With the right approach, you can turn your team from a risk into a security asset.
Here’s how to build a phishing-aware culture in your business:
1. Make Cybersecurity Part of Company Culture
Security awareness shouldn’t be a one-time PowerPoint in onboarding—it should be an ongoing conversation.
Include security in new hire orientation
Send regular reminders or “security tips of the week”
Celebrate when employees correctly identify and report phishing attempts
✅ Pro tip: Leadership should lead by example—when execs care about security, others follow.
2. Use Simulated Phishing Tests
One of the best ways to teach people to spot phishing is by testing them in a safe environment.
Simulated phishing tools send fake (but realistic) phishing emails to your team. If someone clicks, they’re taken to a short training page—not malware.
Popular platforms:
KnowBe4
Hoxhunt
Phriendly Phishing
Cofense
✅ Benefits:
Measure how your team improves over time
Identify who needs more training
Reinforce lessons in a practical, memorable way
3. Keep Training Short and Practical
No one wants to sit through a 2-hour cybersecurity lecture.
Instead:
Use micro-training: 5–10 minute video modules or quizzes
Send monthly email tips with examples of new phishing tactics
Show real-world examples of scams targeting your industry
✅ Tip: Make training visual—screenshots of real phishing emails help employees learn what to look for.
4. Make Reporting Easy and Encouraged
Your team should feel comfortable saying:
“Hey, I just got a weird email—can someone check this?”
To support that:
Set up a “report phishing” button in your email system
Create a simple process for reporting suspicious messages
Emphasize that reporting—even after a click—is always the right move
✅ Remember: People aren’t the weakest link—they’re the first line of defense when trained and empowered properly.
What to Do If Someone Clicks a Phishing Link
Let’s be real: even with great training, mistakes happen.
Someone’s having a busy day. They click a link before thinking. Suddenly, your business is at risk.
The key isn’t blame—it’s a fast, calm, and effective response.
Here’s what to do the moment a phishing email gets clicked:
Step 1: Disconnect the Affected Device
Immediately isolate the computer or device from the network:
Unplug Ethernet cables
Turn off Wi-Fi or airplane mode the device
Don’t power off unless instructed (memory may be needed for investigation)
✅ Why it matters: This stops malware from spreading to shared drives, cloud accounts, or other devices.
Step 2: Change Passwords Immediately
If the phishing attack was a fake login page (credential harvesting), assume the attacker has the credentials.
Have the user:
Change their password for the compromised account
Change passwords on any accounts using the same credentials
Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) if it isn’t already
✅ Pro tip: If the user entered credentials to their email, change it first—it’s often the gateway to everything else.
Step 3: Notify IT or Your MSP Right Away
Even if nothing seems wrong, your IT provider or internal team needs to:
Scan the device for malware or backdoors
Review network logs for suspicious activity
Check if any data was accessed or exfiltrated
Contain the threat before it escalates
✅ Tip: Keep a documented incident response plan or checklist so your team knows exactly who to contact and what to do.
Step 4: Communicate Internally
If the phishing email was sent to multiple employees:
Alert everyone not to click or interact with the message
Ask them to report if they received it
Consider a company-wide password reset or system check if sensitive access was involved
✅ Avoid panic—but don’t delay. Quick internal communication limits risk.
Step 5: Learn From the Incident
After resolving the issue:
Debrief with your team (no blame—just learning)
Update your training based on what happened
Add new examples to your phishing awareness program
If necessary, report the attack to law enforcement or cyber insurance provider
✅ Goal: Turn one mistake into a company-wide lesson—and come out stronger.
Remember:
Phishing attacks are designed to feel urgent and harmless at the same time. When someone clicks, it’s not about fault—it’s about speed and response.
One Click Can Cost You Thousands—Or Nothing at All
Phishing attacks are one of the most common and costly threats to small businesses today—but they’re also one of the most preventable.
With the right awareness, training, and response plan, your team can:
Spot phishing red flags early
Avoid the costly consequences of a wrong click
Build a security-first culture across your organization
Technology helps—but your people are the first line of cyber defense.
Ready to Protect Your Team?
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and let us help you assess your current security awareness program—and show you how to make it even stronger.
Let’s make sure your business is ready—before the next phishing email hits your inbox.
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