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Avoid phishing

What is phishing?

According to phishing.org, “Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords. The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.” It is not a personal attack, rather it targets your whole contact list.

What might phishing look like?

Phishing messages may look like messages that contain threats to shut your account down, requests for personal information, a question that inspires curiosity with no context, words like “urgent”, a forged email addresses, and poor writing or bad grammar.

When an email contains any of the following, be suspicious:

  1. An offer that is too good to be true 
  2. Sense of urgency, or a leading question (eg. “Did you see this!?”, followed by a link or attachment)
  3. Hyperlinks (these may be spelled similarly to legitimate website links)
  4. Attachments (when you aren’t expecting to receive one)
  5. Unusual sender or email address (check the senders email address and spelling)

See more details on the above traits of phishing emails here: https://www.phishing.org/10-ways-to-avoid-phishing-scams

How can I be email-safe?

  1. Don’t open emails from an unknown sender, and double check the sender’s email address to make sure it matches what you’re expecting to see. For example, all messages from Bloor Street staff will end with @bloorstreetunited.org
  2. Don’t reply to suspicious emails, don’t click on any links that are written incorrectly or links you weren’t expecting to receive, and don’t open attachments you weren’t expecting to receive. Delete spam emails without replying or clicking unsubscribe.
  3. If you’re not sure whether an email is legitimate, follow up with the person or company who sent it by phoning or emailing them directly – not responding to a spam email – to clarify.
  4. You can mark or report an email as spam when you receive it. How to do so depends on your email provider. If you are using Gmail, follow this guide. If you are using Outlook, follow this guide.
  5. Install an anti-phishing toolbar, anti-virus software, and pop-up blocker.
  6. Don’t give out personal information via email.
  7. Be cautious about connecting to free wifi in public places.
  8. Change your password to a strong one that contains a mixture of numbers, letters, and special characters (eg punctuation).

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