Cybercriminals don’t rely solely on hacking software vulnerabilities. One of their most effective weapons is something much simpler: Tricking people into giving away access.

That’s what phishing is.

Website owners may receive emails from known companies, such as Google, WordPress, a payment processor, or even their web host. These emails look legitimate, but they’ve been crafted to steal usernames, passwords, financial information, or install malware.

A successful phishing attack can lead to hacked websites, stolen confidential information, SEO spam, ransomware, and significant business downtime.

The average financial cost of a phishing attack to a business is $150,000.

In this guide, we’ll explain:

• What phishing is
• The 7 types of phishing attacks
• 11 tips for protecting your WP website from phishing attacks
• What to do if you become a victim of phishing

You can dramatically reduce your risk once you understand how phishing works.

Statistics on Phishing

• 70% of businesses that fall victim to phishing scams report loss of confidential data.
• Small businesses are three times more likely to go bankrupt.
• MFAs reduced phishing attacks by 99%.
• Company executives are three times more likely to act on phishing emails than regular employees.
• 12,000 phishing campaigns are launched every minute around the world.

(Source: WorldMetrics)

What Is Phishing?

Phishing is a type of cyberattack in which criminals use emails or text messages to impersonate a trusted person, company, or organization to trick victims into revealing confidential information.Instead of exploiting software vulnerabilities, phishing exploits something they can manipulate: human trust.

The term phishing is a play on the word “fishing.”

Just like an angler who casts bait into the water, hoping a fish will bite, “cyber-anglers” cast thousands, or even millions, of fraudulent emails, text messages, social media messages, or fake websites in the hope that someone will “take the bait.”

The unusual spelling with “ph” is believed to have originated in the hacking community during the 1990s.

For example, “Phreaking” is a term used to describe early telephone system hacking.

Although phishing techniques have evolved significantly since the 1990s, the underlying concept remains the same:

Create a sense of urgency and compel targets to voluntarily give up confidential  information.

Have you received suspicious emails or text messages from your bank, government agencies, law enforcement groups, payment processors, your domain registrar, or co-workers?

You’ve been dangled with bait that aims to have you:

• Surrenderyour login 
• Providepasswords or security 
• Send
• Approvefraudulent 
• Downloadinfected 
• Installmalicious 

Unlike traditional hacking, becoming a successful “Phisherman” requires little technical skill.

If a victim willingly provides access to their WP website, the attacker may gain immediate access to the dashboard, email account, and other critical systems.

In some cases, a single successful phishing email is all it takes for cybercriminals to compromise an entire website.

What Are The Most Common Types Of Phishing Attacks?

We mentioned a few types of phishing attacks in the previous section. Now, let’s go into detail on how these phishing attacks work. We’ll also give pro tips on what to do when encountering these scam campaigns.

Here are seven of the most common types of phishing attacks:

1. Fake WordPress Login Pages

One of the most common attacks involves a fake WordPress login screen. You’ll get an email that says:

“Your WordPress account has been suspended.”

or…

“Security update required.”

The email contains a link that looks legitimate.

Instead of taking you to your website, it opens a fake login page designed to capture your username and password.

Once entered, the attacker immediately logs into your real website.

💡 Pro Tip: Don’t click on any link in the email or text message!

Instead, open another browser, log into your web host provider’s customer profile, go to your admin dashboard, and check notifications.

2. Fake Hosting Company Emails

Attackers frequently impersonate web hosting service providers.

You may receive emails from a company claiming to be your hosting provider, advising you of the following:

• Billingissues
• Serverupgrades
• SSLcertificate expiration
• Accountsuspension
• Backupfailures

These emails were created to trigger a sense of urgency.

A link is attached to these types of emails. Once you click the link, you’re directed to a fake customer portal that requires you to provide your credentials.

While you think you’ve resolved the issue, you’ve actually given the cybercriminal access to your website.

💡 Pro Tip: Follow the same drill we recommended for fake WP login pages.

You can also inspect the sender’s email. If it’s not the same company email as your web host provider, it’s phishing.

3. Domain Renewal Scams

Many business owners receive emails claiming their domain registration is about to expire. The message urges the business owner to issue immediate payment.

What the business owner doesn’t know is that the sender isn’t your registrar. This means the request for immediate payment is fraudulent.

The sender’s goal is to steal your account credentials.

💡 Pro Tip: You can easily verify renewal notices directly through your registrar’s official website.

4. Fake Plugin or Theme Updates

Another phishing scam involves sending out emails to business owners that claim any of the following:

• Youhave a plugin that contains 
• Yourcurrent theme requires an emergency 
• Asecurity patch must be immediately 

Again, emails created to trigger a sense of urgency and elicit a panic response.

Many business owners would be driven to a state of panic, leading them to do as the email instructs.

By doing so, they have unknowingly downloaded illegitimate software that installs malware into their websites.

💡 Pro Tip: Always download WP plugins and themes from trusted sources, such as the official WordPress Plugin Directory or the original developer.

5. Business Email Compromise

In a Business Email Compromise (BEC) phishing campaign, cybercriminals either gain access to a legitimate business email account or convincingly impersonate a trusted contact.

The BEC might impersonate your:

• Boss
• Businesspartner
• ITmanager or website developer
• Accountant
• Atrusted supplier

The BEC might ask you to pay an outstanding invoice, change bank account details, reset a password, share login credentials, approve a wire transfer, or download an attachment or link.

Because the message comes from someone you know, it’s much more likely to be believed.

A single successful BEC attack can give hackers access to your WP website, financial accounts, and other private platforms.

💡 Pro Tip: When you receive an email from a trusted party, don’t approve the request right away. Contact the sender via phone call or email. Send a screenshot of the BEC email as evidence.

6. Spear Phishing

Unlike traditional phishing campaigns that cast a wide net, spear phishing targets a specific individual or organization.

Instead of sending the same generic email to thousands of people, attackers carefully research their intended victim to create a message that appears authentic and personally relevant.

Cybercriminals will gather information from a variety of sources:

• Companywebsite
• Employeeprofiles
• Socialmedia accounts
• Newsarticles
• Vendors
• Businesspartners
• Publicrecords

With the information, they can create highly convincing emails that reference real names, projects, customers, or recent business activities.

The level of personalization makes spear phishing more convincing than generic phishing emails. Victims are less likely to question the sender’s identity and more likely to click malicious links, download infected attachments, or disclose sensitive information.

💡 Pro Tip: Whenever you receive an email from someone you know or a company you’re dealing with, contact them and verify the communication first before taking any action.

Provide them with a screenshot of the email as proof.

7. Clone Phishing

Clone phishing is a sophisticated attack in which cybercriminals copy a legitimate email that you’ve previously received and replace its links or attachments with malicious ones.

Because the message closely resembles an email you’ve already trusted, it’s much more difficult to recognize as fraudulent.

To deceive you, the attacker will create an email that duplicates elements of the original email:

• Companylogo
• Formattingand layout
• Branding
• Sender’sname
• Subjectline
• Signature

Clone phishing is particularly effective because it exploits your previous trust. Instead of convincing you that a brand new email is legitimate, attackers simply copy or “clone” one you’ve already received and acted upon.

For example, a cybercriminal could copy an email your web host provider previously sent regarding a scheduled server maintenance update. The email includes a link to a fake login page.

Because the message looks familiar and involves an actual event, you may not think twice about clicking the link.

💡 Pro Tip: When it comes to online communication, it pays to have an inquisitive or question-first mindset. Always verify the email with the sender before acting on it. Don’t take chances even if it looks familiar to you.

11 Ways To Protect Your WordPress Website From Phishing Attacks

While phishing attacks continue to become more sophisticated, protecting your WordPress website doesn’t require cybersecurity expertise.

Phishing attacks succeed because the victim clicked a malicious link, trusted a convincing email, or reused a compromised password.

By adopting a few proven security practices and committing to verifying unexpected emails, you can significantly reduce the risk of getting phished.

The following 11 best practices will help strengthen your defenses against phishing and other forms of cyberattacks.

1. Use Strong, Unique Passwords

Your password is the first line of defense against unauthorized access, so it should be both strong and unique.

Never reuse the same password across multiple accounts. If one website suffers a data breach and your password is exposed, cybercriminals will often try those same credentials on other services.

This tactic is known as credential stuffing.

Create passwords that are long, unique, and difficult to guess. A password manager can generate and securely store complex passwords for each account, so you don’t have to memorize them all.

2. Enable MFA

Strong and unique passwords aren’t enough to protect your WP website from phishing attacks. You’ll have to enable MFA or Multi-Factor Authentication.

MFA provides your website with a second layer of security by requiring a second form of verification before anyone can log into your WordPress administrator account.

How can MFA protect your WP website?

If a hacker were to steal your username and password, they wouldn’t be able to access your website without the second factor of authentication. You can use authenticator apps, hardware security keys, or one-time verification codes as part of your MFA defense system.

3. Keep WordPress Updated

Keeping your WordPress website updated won’t prevent phishing emails from reaching your inbox, but it can greatly reduce damage if an attacker gains access to your website.

Cybercriminals often combine stolen login credentials with software that exploits known vulnerabilities to take control of a website.

By consistently updating your WP website, you can utilize security patches that fix newly discovered vulnerabilities before the cybercriminals do. Delaying updates gives cybercriminals more time to target websites running on outdated software.

Create a complete backup of your WP website and test the new versions before applying updates.

4. Verify URLs Before Logging In

One of the most common goals of a phishing attack is to trick you into entering your username and password on a fake login page that looks identical to your actual WP website or your hosting provider’s customer portal.

Once you submit your credentials, they’re sent directly to the attacker, who can use them immediately to access your account.

To avoid getting victimized by this phishing tactic:

• Neverclick login links in unsolicited emails, text messages, or direct 
• Openyour browser and type your website’s URL manually, or use a trusted
• Beforeentering your credentials, double-check that the website’s domain name is correctly spelled and matches the official address.

Sometimes you need to trust your intuition. If an email looks and “feels” suspicious, don’t click on its links.

Go to your provider’s official website and verify the issue from your account dashboard. Verifying communication through official channels may take time, but it will protect your website from cyberattacks.

5. Prioritize Website Security

If you have a physical store, you can install webcams in key access points, hire security services, or install high-level indoor security systems to prevent theft.

With a WP website, you have to install security plugins that provide firewalls, automatic antivirus and malware scanning and removal, alerts and notifications, and login activity monitoring.

These security plugins can detect unusual behavior, unexpected file modifications, logins from unfamiliar locations, and new administrator accounts.

In combination with strong passwords, MFAs, and regular software updates, fortifying website defenses with the right security plugins will reduce the risk of getting compromised by malware attacks and phishing campaigns.

6. Limit Administrator Accounts

Every WP administrator account is a potential entry point for attackers. The more accounts with full administrative privileges your website has, the greater the risk that one could be compromised through phishing.

Limit user access to what they need to perform their jobs.

For example, a content writer doesn’t need administrator privileges to publish blog posts. A customer support agent doesn’t need access to security settings.

Here are five best practices you can follow when granting administrative access:

• Grantaccess only to trusted 
• Assignlower-privilege roles, such as Editor or Author, whenever
• Reviewyour account 
• Removeinactive users and former 
• Disabletemporary accounts once a project is 

If an attacker compromises a standard user account, the damage is often limited.

However, if they gain access to an administrative account, they can wreak havoc on your website by installing malware, creating hidden accounts, changing settings, stealing sensitive data, or locking you out of your website.

7. Train Your Team

Because phishing targets people rather than technology, your employees are essentially a line of defense. If one of them clicks on a malicious link or approves a fraudulent request for credentials, your WordPress website, emails, and entire network can be seriously compromised.

Train your team. Educate them about basic cybersecurity protocols:

• Recognizesuspicious emails, text messages, and 
• Verifyunexpected requests for passwords, payments, and other types of sensitive
• Confirmunusual instructions or communications through a separate 
• Identifyfake login pages and suspicious 
• Avoiddownloading unexpected attachments or installing unverified 
• Reportsuspected phishing attempts 

Encourage a workplace culture where employees feel comfortable questioning unusual requests.

Remember, cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. The more knowledgeable and vigilant your team is, the less likely they are to fall victim to phishing scams.

8. Backup Your Website Regularly

Even if you check all the boxes on your WordPress website security list, you can still fall victim to phishing campaigns and malware attacks.

The best way to ensure safety is by backing up your website regularly.

Daily backups will enable you to restore your website quickly if a phishing attack shuts it down. A backup process involves protecting and storing the following files:

• Websiteassets
• WordPressdatabase
• Themesand plugins
• Mediauploads
• Configurationfiles

Set up automatic backups and store them in a secure location separate from your web server. A smart option is to sign up for one of our Managed WordPress Maintenance and Care Plans.

We’ll take care of your website while you take care of your business. We’ll run frequent scans, perform timely plugin and theme updates, and schedule daily website backups.

9. Use Secure Email Practices

Your email serves as the gateway to your WordPress website, web hosting account, domain registrar, and other online services.

If an attacker gains access to your email, they can reset your passwords and take control of your website.

Follow these six best practices to secure your email:

• Enable Sometimes it feels inconvenient, but it’s worth it!
• Withoutsounding too repetitive, use a strong and unique 
• Regularlyreview email forwarding rules for unauthorized 
• Monitoryour account’s login history for unfamiliar devices or 
• Becautious of unexpected emails with suspicious links, attachments, and login 
• Reportand block suspicious senders whenever 

Your email account is often the key to recovering access to your website. Protecting it should be one of your highest cybersecurity priorities.

10. Monitor Website Activity

Regularly monitoring your WordPress website can help you detect a phishing attack before it causes significant damage. If successful, the attacker can make changes that go unnoticed for days, weeks, or months.

What are the warning signs you should look out for?

• Unknownadministrator accounts
• Unexpectedplugin or theme installations
• Unauthorizedfile modifications
• Newpages or blogs you didn’t create
• Strangeredirects to unfamiliar websites
• SEOspam or suspicious links
• Unexplainedslow performance
• Loginattempts from unfamiliar locations
• Unexpectedchanges to settings or security configurations

Many WP security plugins and hosting providers offer activity logs, login monitoring, and real-time security alerts that notify you of changes that occur on your website.

11. Use Anti-Phishing Software

Anti-phishing software can detect and remove phishing scams in real time. These AI-powered security tools can intercept deceptive emails, malicious websites, and credential-seeking messages.

Here are five key features of an effective anti-phishing software:

• Behavioralanalysis and anomaly 
• Real-time
• Integratedanalysis and 
• Automatedmonitoring of potential 
• Immediatedetection, elimination, and quarantine of the 

Here are our recommendations for anti-phishing tools:

• MicrosoftOffice365 Defender
• Cofense
• Fortra(formerly PhishLabs)
• Barracuda
• CheckPoint

Choose the anti-phishing tool with the features that best fit your business needs.

Bonus: What To Do If You Fall For A Phishing Attack

Don’t panic.

We’ve prepared a 10-point to-do list in case you fall victim to a phishing scam.

No.	To-Do:
1	Change all passwords.
2	Enable MFA.
3	Scan for malware.
4	Remove unauthorized users.
5	Review installed plugins and themes.
6	Check your hosting account.
7	Inspect your database for suspicious changes.
8	Restore your website from a clean backup, if necessary.
9	Notify affected customers if data has been exposed.
10	Conduct a security audit before returning to full operation.

 

Conclusion

Phishing is a by-product of digital technology, but its effectiveness lies in its ability to manipulate another branch of science, the one that influences human behavior.

Psychology.

Phishing specifically targets people. Instead of searching for software vulnerabilities, phishing scams search for behavioral vulnerabilities.

Campaigns compel you to unwillingly trust emails by triggering powerful emotions that create a sense of urgency.

Website owners aren’t immune.

Fortunately, protecting your WordPress website doesn’t require technical knowledge.

Strong passwords, MFA, employee awareness, regular updates, website monitoring, and a healthy skepticism toward unexpected emails can reduce your risk.

Always keep in mind that cybersecurity isn’t a one-time activity.

It’s an ongoing process of staying informed, remaining vigilant, and responding quickly to potential threats before they become costly breaches.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is phishing the same as hacking?

No. Phishing is a form of social engineering that tricks people into voluntarily providing sensitive information.

Hacking involves exploiting technical vulnerabilities in software and systems.

However, phishing serves as an effective first step for hackers to gain unauthorized access to your website.

2. Can antivirus software stop phishing?

Antivirus software can detect malicious attachments and websites, but it cannot stop every phishing attempt.

Using strong passwords, enabling MFAs, and strictly implementing security protocols remain the cornerstones for deterring phishing scams.

3. Can a phishing email infect my website?

A phishing email can infect your website if you:

• Clickon malicious links
• Downloadinfected files
• Entercredentials into fake websites

Install compromised software