According to Talker, nearly half of respondents to a new global survey said they had been the victim of a cyberattack or fraud, according to a report commissioned by computer software company Yubico.
Phishing, where cybercriminals send deceptive messages to trick someone into divulging sensitive information such as bank account details or access to technology, is on the rise, increasing by 60% from 2021 to 2022. CNBC reports that this has increased.
You’ve probably seen phishing emails arrive in your inbox. But by being aware when it’s being sent by a malicious attacker, you can prevent yourself from becoming the next victim.
Related: AI cloning hoax can copy your voice in 3 seconds and empty your bank account. Here’s how to protect yourself.
A recent study by email verification and deliverability platform ZeroBounce analyzed email datasets for spam detection and identified the most dangerous and recurring words in fraudulent emails.
The study calculated a weighted score based on word frequency, click-through rate (CTR), and infection/victimization rate.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, “money” ranks first among the most dangerous words, with an infection/damage rate of 83.56% and the second highest occurrence rate and CTR.
Related: Why AI is your new best friend… and why it’s your worst enemy in the fight against phishing scams
“Income” has the highest CTR at 4.68%, despite its moderate frequency (267).
“Investment,” “credit,” “billion,” and “free” made up the top five most risky words, with the latter occurring most frequently (2,266 times) and having the lowest CTR (0.56%).
See the complete list of ZeroBounce findings below.
words
Frequency of appearance
click rate
Infection rate (%)
weighted score
money
1143
4.56%
83.56
81.68
investment
226
4.59%
89.64
72.43
credit
726
4.22%
50.52
59.23
billion
107
3.97%
71.93
58.97
free
2266
0.56%
54.78
58
loan
176
4.31%
61.11
57.23
debt
194
3.73%
60.61
53.52
cash
321
3.93%
52.66
52.96
Fee
359
4.21%
43.33
51.07
income
267
4.68%
32.26
47.93
