Recently, there have been increased reports of sending misleading phishing messages to email users.

False messages are sent to citizens, which simulate a request from the Unified Digital Portal of the Government, gov.gr, inviting citizens to view a document that has been posted in their personal Mailbox.

The National Cybersecurity Authority of the Ministry of Digital Governance reminds useful instructions to enhance the security and privacy of citizens.

Phishing constitutes an act of deceiving internet users, in which the sender impersonates a trusted entity, organization or person who invites the recipient of the message to follow the instructions given to him. These instructions may ask the recipient to follow a link or provide their data, such as sensitive private information, passwords, ID or passport details, bank account, bank card and others.

Furthermore, the last few days have seen an increased number of related messages with tax refunds or grants.

Citizens are urged to be especially careful, however plausible the sender or the messages they receive, so as not to fall victim to fraudsters who act in this way. Here are some practical tips to protect against this type of attack (phishing attacks).

In this context, you should never give out personal information (e.g. e-Banking codes, card numbers/PINs, passwords, username) to alleged intermediaries, law firms, accountants, or other purveyors of purported service (e.g. in matters of government subsidy, Power/Fuel/ Tourism for all or other cases such as renting rooms etc).

You should access through the official website of the institution, organization or bank or through the application on your mobile phone (app) and not through links from a message or email received, search engines or other websites.

If you received a suspicious email, you should contact your partners or the alleged sender to verify its authenticity before taking action.

You should check the sender address carefully. Phishing emails often have sender addresses which are unrelated to the person who is supposed to send them.

You should consider the type of information you are being asked for. Even if the message you received seems genuine, it is unlikely that any agency, bank or company will contact you via email to ask for personal information, bank or credit card details, or other personal or sensitive data.

You should be wary if the message creates a sense of urgency. Attackers often try to exert pressure using this tactic.

You should also be wary of tax refund or allowance messages.

A thorough grammar and spelling check is effective as typos and poor grammar are common characteristics of phishing messages.

There are several security and anti-malware (antispamming) solutions that include functions to identify and reject malicious messages.