Verify Companies Independently

Any contact information included in an unexpected message — a phone number, a link, an email address — is information the sender chose to give you, which means it's exactly the piece you can't trust to verify them. If a message claims to be from your bank, a recruiter, or a company you do business with, the reliable way to check is to find that company's details independently, not through anything the message itself provided.

In practice, this means searching for the company's name directly, navigating to the website you already know (or find through a trusted search, not a link), or using a phone number from a past bill, card, or statement — never one in the message you're trying to verify.

This single habit defeats most phishing, fake job postings, and fake support scams at once, because it removes the scammer's ability to control what you see when you try to check if they're real.

• The rule: Never use contact info from the message itself to verify the message.
• In practice: Search independently, or use a number from a past bill or card statement.
• Defeats: Phishing, fake job postings, and fake customer support, as a category.
• Takes seconds: And removes the scammer's control over what you see next.