How to Stop Phishing Emails? Prevention & Protection

Blog, Email Security

by Milena Baghdasaryan

Reading Time: 6 min
How to Stop Phishing Emails? Prevention & Protection
Table Of Contents−
  • How Phishing Emails Work
  • Steps to Stop Phishing Emails
  • Preventing Future Phishing Attacks
  • What to Do If You Already Clicked a Phishing Email
  • Conclusion
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    • Key Takeaways

    1. Phishing, especially through email, is one of the most common cybersecurity threats.
    2. Email filters, authentication protocols, and security tools are your first line of defense against phishing.
    3. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) protects accounts even if credentials are stolen.
    4. Reporting and blocking phishing emails helps stop future attacks and protects others.

    The term phishing comes from the idea of cybercriminals “fishing” for sensitive information, such as passwords and financial details, with fraudulent messages as bait. Its unusual spelling with “ph” is a nod to “phreaking,” the hacking of telephone systems in the 1970s, showing how deception in technology has deep roots.

    Phishing can take many forms, but email remains one of the most common and dangerous channels.  All it takes is one click on a fraudulent link or one file download to compromise an entire system.

    Learning how to stop phishing emails is a necessary step in building stronger cybersecurity habits and protecting both personal and organizational data over time.

    How Phishing Emails Work

    Phishing emails rely on social engineering—manipulating human psychology rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities. Attackers craft messages that create urgency, fear, or curiosity to prompt immediate action. Common tactics include:

    • Spoofed sender addresses that look nearly identical to legitimate domains but with one or more symbols replaced by another similar one (for example, o and 0).
    • Fake links that redirect to counterfeit login pages designed to steal credentials.
    • Urgent language like “Your account will be suspended!”) that pressures recipients into clicking without thinking.
    • Malicious attachments disguised as invoices, receipts, or official documents.

    Steps to Stop Phishing Emails

    Despite widespread awareness, phishing remains effective. A study found that embedded phishing training only reduced the likelihood of clicking phishing links by 2% after eight months. Therefore, stopping phishing requires a layered approach: combining email security tools with careful verification habits, regular software updates, and proactive reporting.

    Use email filters and security tools

    Modern email providers offer built-in spam and phishing filters that automatically detect and quarantine suspicious messages. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and other platforms use machine learning to identify known phishing patterns, malicious links, and spoofed domains.

    However, filters aren’t perfect. Advanced phishing campaigns often slip through. That’s why a dedicated email authentication protocol can be a great addition. For example, some tools to look into include:

    • DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), which helps prevent domain spoofing by verifying that emails claiming to come from your domain are legitimate. DMARC helps reduce spam by identifying phishing attacks and spam.
    • SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), which work together to authenticate the sender’s identity and ensure emails haven’t been tampered with in transit.

    PowerDMARC’s platform offers end-to-end email authentication, a DMARC analyzer dashboard, AI-driven threat intelligence, live threat maps, and a multi-lingual control panel for phishing protection. These tools give organizations real-time visibility into email threats and automate enforcement policies to block spoofed messages before they reach inboxes.

     

    For individual users, enabling your email provider’s “Enhanced Safe Browsing” or equivalent feature adds an extra layer of protection. Third-party anti-phishing browser extensions (like those from Avast, Norton, or Bitdefender) can also flag suspicious sites when you click links.

    Verify email sources before clicking

    Even with strong filters, you should always verify the sender before interacting with any email that requests sensitive information or prompts urgent action.

    Before clicking, make sure to:

    1. Examine the sender’s email address carefully. Hover over the “From” field to reveal the full address. Look for subtle misspellings or extra characters (e.g., “[email protected]”).
    2. Hover over links. The displayed text may say “paypal.com,” but the actual URL (shown in the tooltip) could point to a phishing site.
    3. Look for generic greetings. Legitimate companies usually address you by name. Messages that start with “Dear Customer” or “Valued User” are red flags.
    4. Check for poor grammar and spelling. Professional organizations proofread their emails. Awkward phrasing and typos are common in phishing attempts.

    If an email claims to be from your bank, IT department, or an online service, don’t click any links. Instead, open a new browser tab and go directly to the official website or call the organization using a phone number you find independently.

    Keep software and browsers updated

    Outdated software is a prime target for phishing-related exploits. Attackers often use malicious attachments or links to install malware that takes advantage of known vulnerabilities in operating systems, browsers, and email clients.

    To keep your software safe, make sure to:

    • Enable automatic updates for your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux) and all applications.
    • Update your web browser regularly. Modern browsers include built-in phishing and malware protection.
    • Patch security software (antivirus, firewall, VPN) as soon as updates are available.

    Report and block suspicious emails

    Reporting phishing emails helps email providers improve their filters and protects others from the same attack.

    Different mailing services provide different ways for reporting. For example:

    • Gmail: Click the three dots next to the message, select “Report phishing.”
    • Outlook: Click “Report message” → “Phishing.”
    • Apple Mail: Forward the email to [email protected].
    • Yahoo Mail: Select the message, click “More” → “Report as phishing.”

    After reporting, block the sender to prevent future messages. Most email clients let you add addresses to a blocklist or automatically move messages from certain senders to spam.

    PowerDMARC makes it incredibly easy for businesses to identify and block malicious domains at scale through monitoring of DMARC data, email header and domain reputation analysis, tracking of DNS security score history, and auto DNS publishing.

    Preventing Future Phishing Attacks

    Security measures against phishing attacks should not simply focus on stopping individual phishing emails. The best approach is to build long-term defenses that make it harder for attackers to succeed, even if a malicious message reaches your inbox. The way to achieve that is through:

    Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)

    Multi-factor authentication adds an extra verification step when logging into accounts. Even if a phisher steals your password, they can’t access your account without that second factor, as there is usually a code sent to your phone or generated by an authenticator app.

    The reason this is a smart approach to securing your data is that, nowadays, passwords alone are no longer enough. Phishing attacks often succeed because users reuse passwords across multiple sites. MFA ensures that stolen credentials are useless without the additional verification step.

    It’s recommended to enable MFA on:

    • Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo)
    • Banking and financial services
    • Social media platforms
    • Work-related apps and cloud services

    Train yourself and employees

    Even with the low reduction in click rates after phishing training, regular, realistic simulations combined with clear guidelines increase awareness and can improve outcomes over time.

    Among the key topics to seek training on are:

    • Recognizing common phishing red flags (urgent language, unfamiliar senders, unexpected attachments).
    • Verifying requests for sensitive information through independent channels.
    • Understanding the risks of clicking on unknown links or downloading unsolicited files.
    • Knowing how to report suspected phishing attempts.

    For organizations, ongoing awareness campaigns paired with simulated phishing tests help employees stay alert. PowerDMARC’s support team and onboarding process are highly responsive and helpful in this regard, making solution rollout easy and manageable for clients, ensuring teams can quickly adopt email authentication tools without disrupting workflows.

    Use strong passwords and password managers

    Weak or reused passwords make phishing attacks more dangerous. If an attacker gains access to one account, they can often break into others using the same credentials.

    To strengthen your password security, make sure to:

    • Create unique, complex passwords for every account (at least 12 characters, mixing letters, numbers, and symbols).
    • Use a password manager (like 1Password, Bitwarden, or Dashlane) to generate and store passwords securely.
    • Avoid using easily guessable information (birthdates, pet names, common words).
    • Change passwords immediately if you suspect your account has been compromised.

    Password managers also alert you if credentials are exposed in data breaches, giving you a chance to update passwords before attackers can exploit them.

    What to Do If You Already Clicked a Phishing Email

    If you’ve clicked a phishing link or downloaded a suspicious attachment, you should act quickly to limit damage. The best course of action would be to:

    1. Disconnect from the internet immediately. This prevents malware from communicating with attackers or spreading across your network.
    2. Run a full antivirus and malware scan. Use up-to-date security software to detect and remove threats.
    3. Change compromised passwords. Start with your email account, then update passwords for any other accounts using the same credentials. Do this from a clean device if possible.
    4. Notify your bank or credit card provider if you shared financial information. They can monitor for fraudulent activity and issue new cards if necessary.
    5. Enable account alerts for unusual login attempts or transactions.
    6. Report the phishing email to your email provider and relevant authorities (e.g., the FTC’s ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the U.S.).

    Conclusion

    Phishing emails are among the most persistent cybersecurity threats, but they’re far from unstoppable. By combining technical defenses with smart habits, you can cut your exposure to these attacks dramatically.

    PowerDMARC stands out as a game-changer because it offers both protection and remarkable ease of deployment. You don’t need to be a security expert to keep your inbox safe—what matters is having the right tools and staying consistent.

    Explore PowerDMARC’s toolbox and take the first step toward securing your email against today’s most deceptive threats.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can phishing emails be stopped completely?

    No solution is 100% foolproof, but layered defenses with email authentication protocols (DMARC, SPF, DKIM), spam filters, MFA, and user training can block the vast majority of phishing attempts.

    Simply opening a phishing email is usually harmless. The danger comes from clicking links, downloading attachments, or entering information on fake websites. However, some sophisticated attacks use tracking pixels to confirm your email is active, which makes you a target for future campaigns.

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