What Is Phishing? Spotting Fake Emails
We explain the telltale signs of phishing e-mails, what to do if you click, and practical ways to train employees against these attacks.
Aurora YazılımEditorial team
6 min read
The answer to what phishing is: it is a scam attack that uses e-mails, SMS or messages that look like they come from a trusted organization or person to trick users into handing over passwords, card details or money transfers. Language that creates urgency, look-alike fake domains, unexpected attachments and links that ask you to sign in are the most common clues.
How Does a Phishing Attack Work?
The word phishing is a play on fishing: the attacker casts bait to a great many people and waits for someone to bite, which is why it is also called a phishing attack. It exploits human psychology far more than a technical flaw; fear, curiosity, urgency and trust in authority are the levers used most often.
A typical scenario goes like this: a message arrives that looks like it comes from a bank, a courier company, a government e-service or the company's own manager. The message asks you to click a link, open an attachment or make an urgent payment. The link takes you to a fake login page that is an exact copy of the real one, and the details you enter go straight to the attacker.
Attackers no longer have to send messages full of typos that are easy to spot. With AI tools, producing fluent, personalized content has become easy. That is why you should focus not on grammar but on what the message is asking for.
Types of Phishing
For businesses, the costliest type is usually payment instruction fraud. The attacker impersonates a supplier's e-mail, says “our bank account has changed” and gets the next payment sent to their own account. There is no technical malware; there is only a convincing message.
| Type | How does it arrive? | Typical target |
|---|---|---|
| Mass phishing | The same e-mail to thousands of people | Passwords and card details |
| Targeted phishing (spear phishing) | An e-mail personalized with the person's name, role and business partner | Company accounts |
| CEO / supplier fraud | A payment request posing as an executive or supplier | Accounting and finance team |
| Smishing | SMS about a shipment, fine or refund | Card details, getting you to install an app |
| Vishing | A phone call on behalf of a bank or official body | Verification code, wire transfer |
| QR phishing | A fake QR code on a poster, e-mail or invoice | Fake payment and login page |
How to Spot a Fake Email
A single clue is not always enough; when several come together, alarm bells should ring. The best reflex the moment you suspect something is to stop and verify the message with the sender through another channel.
- Urgency and threats: “Your account will be closed if you do not act within 24 hours”
- The sender address does not match the display name or differs by one character (0rnek.com instead of ornek.com)
- The address shown when you hover over the link is unrelated to the organization in the message
- An invoice, shipment or prize notification you were not expecting
- A message asking for a password, card details or a verification code
- A document asking you to run a macro, or a password-protected archive attachment
- A generic greeting (“Dear customer”) or an unusual tone
What to Do If You Clicked
Everyone can have a careless moment one day. What matters is acting quickly and calmly, and reporting right away instead of hiding it. An incident noticed early usually ends up as a minor hiccup.
- If you entered a password on the fake page, change that account's password on the real site immediately
- Change the other accounts where you use the same password too
- If you entered card details, call your bank and have the card blocked
- If you opened an attachment, disconnect the device from the network and tell your IT contact
- Sign out of sessions on your accounts and turn on two-step verification
- Report the incident within the team; the same message may have reached others
Protection Layers Beyond Passwords
The strongest technical defense against phishing is making a stolen password useless on its own. Two-step verification makes it harder for an attacker to log in even if the password is captured. A step further, passwordless login with passkeys, is bound to the domain and so can never be used on fake sites.
A password manager also provides quiet protection: autofill kicks in only on the saved domain. If the manager doesn't offer the password, take seriously the chance that the address is wrong. For unique passwords, take a look at our guide to creating strong passwords.
How to Train Employees
Because phishing is a human problem, most of the solution lies with people too. But a one-off long presentation is forgotten within weeks. Effective training is short, regular and hands-on.
The aim of training is not to blame employees but to get them to report suspicious situations quickly. An employee who makes a mistake but reports it right away is the person who stops the attack early; this behavior should be rewarded.
- A few 15–20 minute sessions a year, backed by real examples
- A single, easy channel for reporting suspicious e-mails
- A double-check rule by phone, on a known number, for payment and account changes
- A short security orientation for new hires
- Current phishing examples shared with the team
Extra Rules for the Accounting Team
Every e-mail announcing a bank account change should be verified by calling the registered phone number. A second authorized person's approval can be required for the first payment to a new IBAN. These two simple rules are among the most effective barriers to payment instruction fraud. It also matters that the rules are in writing; faced with a hurried message from an “executive,” an employee can cite the rule and not hesitate to verify. What an attacker relies on most is the idea that nobody will dare to question a superior.
Protect Your Domain from Impersonation
Attackers may try to deceive not only you but also your customers in your name. Setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records correctly for your corporate domain helps ensure that fake e-mails sent in your name are rejected by receiving servers or land in the spam folder.
Starting your DMARC policy in monitoring mode and tightening it step by step after reviewing the reports is a safe path. The provider address in the records varies according to the e-mail service you use.
ornek.com. TXT v=spf1 include:_spf.eposta-saglayicisi.com ~all
_dmarc.ornek.com. TXT v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@ornek.comPrecautions for Your Website
To reduce the risk of your customers running into fake pages, your own site should inspire trust too. Serving all pages over HTTPS, using a single consistent domain and giving login pages a simple, familiar design make it easier for users to spot the difference. On an e-commerce platform, keeping the templates of e-mails sent to customers consistent also makes fake messages easier to tell apart.
In software solutions developed specifically for a company, two-step verification for admin logins, session time limits and suspicious-login notifications can be built in from the start. Keeping your current site up to date and regularly auditing certificate and connection settings are part of the maintenance under speed and performance optimization.
If you come across a fake site, you can report it through USOM, Türkiye's national cyber incident response center, and also notify the impersonated organization through its own official channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
01Is just opening an email dangerous?
In a current e-mail client, simply opening and reading a message does not usually create danger on its own. The real risk is clicking the link, opening the attachment or entering the requested information; still, keeping remote image loading off is an extra precaution.
02Where should I report a scam email?
Forward it to the reporting channel designated within your company and use your e-mail client's phishing-report feature. If it came in the name of a bank or institution, notify that institution's official channels; you can report fake sites to USOM (Türkiye's national cyber incident response center).
03Does antivirus software stop phishing?
Security software and e-mail filters can catch known fake sites and malicious attachments, but they cannot always recognize a newly set up fake page. That is why technical measures must work together with careful user habits.
Because phishing targets human attention more than technical flaws, the most effective defense is putting together aware employees, two-step verification and domain protection. Aurora Yazılım designs secure sign-in and authorization from the ground up in software solutions built for your business, and treats HTTPS, a consistent domain and a secure form structure as standard in corporate website projects. If you have questions, reach us through our contact page.
