If you’re reading this, you may have spotted September’s phishing test email! As always, you should forward this, or any other suspicious or questionable email, to reportaphish@udel.edu. Even if you click on a phishing link, always report the message. When it’s a UD challenge, we increase our reporting rate and gain greater understanding of our community’s awareness about phishing. When it’s a real phish, we can help reduce or prevent the consequences to you and the UD community.
This email was sent as part of the Secure UD “Take a BITE out of phish!” campaign, a University initiative to raise our community’s awareness about phishing attacks, their consequences, and how to avoid becoming a victim. Each month, a random sample of employees will receive a harmless test phish like this one:
Let’s look at what makes this email suspicious:
- Always examine the sender’s email address. If the “from” address is unfamiliar, take a few extra moments to examine the contents of the email. In this email, the sending address does not match the purported sender.
- Check for poor spelling and grammar. Scam emails often contain typos and other errors — which is a big red flag that it probably did not come from a legitimate source. Sophisticated cybercriminals will often use language and branding from a company or university’s website in order to make their emails appear official.
- Don’t click links within a suspicious e-mail. Hyperlinks that appear legitimate can be a disguised link to a criminal or malicious website. When in doubt, hover your mouse over the text of the hyperlink (you should see the full URL, which will help to show whether it leads to a legitimate website). Or better yet, open a browser window and manually type in the hyperlink yourself to prevent it being re-directed. To inspect a link when using a mobile device, you can tap and hold the link to see the actual URL.
- Don’t be pressured by a sense of urgency. Cyber criminals may use threats or a false sense of urgency to trick you into acting without thinking. If an email threatens you with consequences for not doing something immediately, step away and take a moment to think it over. If you’re truly concerned, contact the company or sender separately to verify the email’s contents.
- Review the signature and closing. Lack of details about the sender or how you can contact the sender strongly suggests a phish. Legitimate businesses will usually provide contact details. Scammers will often send an email that appears to come from a trusted source. Take a couple seconds to consider if this request and signature is something you recognize.
- Be extra cautious handling requests for payment. Requests for money from a company you’ve never dealt with via email are likely phishing scams. Always take steps to validate requests for payments, including gift cards. For example: keep careful and secure records of vendors’ bank details, verify payments over the phone where practical, and contact the payee directly where there are any concerns.
For more information, visit: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/03/spotting-scammy-emails
Always exercise caution; if you receive a suspicious request for your personal information, instructions to visit a suspicious website, or download a suspicious attachment, forward it to reportaphish@udel.edu.
And as always, Think B4 U Click!