Every year, millions of users fall victim to phishing attacks. We very often see suspicious messages in our inboxes. For some phishing messages, detection is easier. And, some of the phishing messages are quite difficult to detect. In this article, we will analyze such a phishing message and discuss what phishing techniques are used in this message. We would also discuss if a user receives such a message in his inbox, what steps he should follow before opening the attachment or clicking on a link within the message.

This phishing email informs a user that the user needs to pay a fine for not paying a toll on a toll road. The user is also asked to open an attachment to read the invoice for the same.

From: [email protected]
Subject: Fine for not paying the toll

Notice to Appear,

You are receiving this email because you did not pay for the toll on a toll road. Please do not forget to pay the fine. An invoice for the same is attached to this email.

Thanks,
John D.

Attachment:
invoice_dt1234yt.zip

In this article, we will try to understand the techniques that attackers have used to deceive a victim, how we can detect phishing emails, and how we can protect ourselves.

Phishing Techniques And Detection

From: [email protected]¹
Subject: Fine for not paying the toll

Notice to Appear,²

You are receiving this email because you did not pay for the toll on a toll road. Please do not forget to pay the fine. An invoice for the same is attached to this email.

Thanks,
John D.

Attachment:
invoice_dt1234yt.zip

1. Let’s look at the from address of the email. Apparently, it looks like it has been sent from .notice subdomain of some legitimate govt. owned domain. But before opening an attachment of an email sent by an unknown sender, we should always verify the sender.

There are two ways to verify the sender. First, open the email header and look at the security information of the email. Is …