Phishing is when criminals use fake emails to lure you into clicking on them and handing over your personal information, or installing malware on your device. It’s easy to avoid a scam email, but only once you know what to look for.
See it so you don’t click it.
The signs can be subtle, but once you recognize a phishing attempt you can avoid falling for it.
Here are some quick tips on how to clearly spot a fake phishing e-mail:
- Be aware of the "Sender is from outside warning label"
- Contains an offer that’s too good to be true
- Language that’s urgent, alarming, or threatening
- Poorly-crafted writing with misspellings, and bad grammar
- Greetings that are ambiguous or very generic
- Requests to send personal information
- Urgency to click on an unfamiliar hyperlinks or attachment
- Strange or abrupt business requests
- Sender's e-mail address doesn’t match the company it’s coming from - "not just the name - look at the email address"
Oh no! I see a phishing e-mail. What do I do?
Don’t worry, you’ve already done the hard part which is recognizing that an e-mail is fake and part of a criminal’s phishing expedition. Do not click on any links (even the unsubscribe link) or reply back to the e-mail. - REPORT IT (see below if using outlook/college mail) or just delete it.
If you have already clicked the link, REPORT IT and consider changing your password and contacting the IT Support Help Desk.
