Which of the following is NOT a common characteristic of phishing attacks?

In phishing attacks, the triumph often lies in how convincingly they mimic legitimate communications, which is why using a legitimate-looking email is a common characteristic. Attackers meticulously craft messages that appear to come from trustworthy sources, such as banks or popular online services, to deceive victims into believing the correspondence is genuine.

Additionally, phishing scams typically involve direct requests for sensitive information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal details, which further indicates a focus on exploiting the trust of the target.

Distributing malware is also a known aspect of phishing, as attackers may include malicious links or attachments that, when interacted with, can compromise the victim’s system or data.

On the other hand, neglecting the target audience is not a characteristic of phishing attacks. In fact, successful phishing campaigns often involve a high degree of audience targeting and segmentation. Attackers usually research their targets or tailor their messages to specific demographics to enhance the effectiveness of their schemes. Thus, the characteristic of neglecting the target audience does not align with the fundamental tactics used in phishing attacks.