You are sent an email from someone who pretends to be a
legitimate organization, such as a well-known bank or social networking site. You are asked to click on a link that takes you to a
website where you are required to enter your personal information. What do you call this?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating the scenario, several labels could come to mind, so we examine each option.
Option 1: 'An Identity Theft scam' — while phishing can lead to identity theft, this label is broader and less precise for the specific method described. Identity theft is the outcome, whereas the tactic here is the deceptive email aiming to harvest credentials. This option mischaracterizes the technique.
Option 2: 'A Network scam' — this term is typically associated with attacks on networks themselves (e.g., network infiltration, denial of service at the network level) rather than social engineering through email. It does not accurately describe the user-focused approach of phishing via a spoofed website.
Option 3: 'A Denial of Service scam' — Denial of Service attacks aim to overwhelm systems and disrupt service, not to collect personal information from individuals. This option is not aligned with the described scenario.
Option 4: 'A Phishing scam' — phishing is precisely the act of sending fraudulent communications (often via email) that appear to come from legitimate organizations to trick individuals into revealing personal information on a fraudulent site. This matches the scenario where the email impersonates a legitimate entity and leads the user to a site requesting personal data.
In summary, the scenario is a classic example of phishing: deceptive impersonation via email to lure the victim to a fake site for credential or information harvesting, rather than a theft at a device level, a network attack, or a denial-of-service scheme.

Dashboard Term One Lecture Quiz

You are sent an email from someone who pretends to be a legitimate organization, such as a well-known bank or social networking site. You are asked to click on a link that takes you to a website where you are required to enter your personal information. What do you call this?

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Similar Questions

Which of the following is a common Internet scam in which an email is sent from someone posing as your bank or other legitimate business asking for personal information?

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