Phish Busting: Pay Attention in English Class!
What's wrong with the following sentences?
"The added security measures require all CitiBusiness Online customers to complete on a regular basis CitiBusiness Form. Please use the hyperlink below to access CitiBusiness Form:"
Your choices are:
a) They just sound weird
b) The article "a" is needed in both sentences before the noun "CitiBusiness"
c) The first sentence should say, "complete a CitiBusiness form on a regular basis"
d) All of the above
Pick any letter and you're right. The point is, this piece of phishing spam, which got through our corporate firewall yesterday, contains the tallest red flag of them all: Grammatical errors. No matter how beautifully the phishing spoofers simulate the look and feel of a Citibank, PayPal or eBay page, or e-mail, or whatever they are employing to steal your identity or money, they always trip themselves up with poor English. If you paid attention in English class, that's one of the best defenses against phishing. Spelling and grammar errors = no credibility.
The second-tallest red flag: The link in the e-mail that takes you somewhere else. NEVER click on them.