When phishing phails to phool

Phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated and therefore harder to spot. However, there are still times when the phisherfolk don't do themselves any favors, making their attempts at deception amusingly obvious.

Email security company GreatHorn has launched a new blog series called Phishing Phails which looks at some of the less successful examples of phishing bait.

These include the inevitable grammatical howlers pictured below, '…you have wasted time alot', and 'If I don’t respond within a timely manner, you would loose the bonuses.' -- as in 'loose the fateful lightning,' presumably.

Other foul ups include long waits for pages to redirect before you can give away your login credentials. Proving that cybercriminals have performance issues too. And of course the inevitable sob stories from people who desperately need your help to liberate a few million dollars.

You can read more on the GreatHorn blog. If you think you've seen worse or funnier examples you can send them to [email protected] and they may feature in a future blog.

There is of course a serious message underlying all this. While it's easy to laugh at the phishing phailures you need to be on the alert for better crafted attacks that might tempt you to take the bait.

Image Credit: alphaspirit / Shutterstock