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Identifying Phishing

Phishing1.png

1. Suspicious Senders

  • Always Check the Sender’s email address

  • Look for subtle misspellings or unusual domain names

2. Generic Greetings

  • Be cautious of generic greetings
  • Phishing emails often use greetings like “Dear Customer” instead of your actual name

3. Urgent or Threatening Language

  • Beware of emails that create a sense of urgency or fear
  • Phrases like

    “Your account will be suspended,”

    “Immediate action required,” or

    “URGENT”

  • May also promise rewards of some kind

4. Mismatched URLs

  • Ensure the URLs in the email match the legitimate website
  • Hover over links to see the actual URL

Phishing2.jpgPoor Grammar and Spelling

  • Look for spelling and grammatical errors
  • Phishing emails often contain typos and awkward phrasing
  • This is often due to attackers using Google Translate to translate into English

Unexpected Attachments or Links

  • Do not open unexpected attachments or click on suspicious links
  • A link might say ‘www.yourbank.com’ but actually lead to a different website
  • Do not open an attachment if it is a .exe (Windows) or .dmg (MacOS)

Request for Personal Information

  • Legitimate organizations will not ask for sensitive information via email
  • Emails asking for passwords, Social Security numbers, or credit card details are likely phishing attempts

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