Freshen up your cyber security know-how with these steps to avoid being hooked by phishing attacks.
Freshen up your cyber security know-how to avoid being hooked by phishing attacks.
Phishing refers to scams in which criminals contact you to try to collect your private information such as a username, password, credit card number, or bank account number.
Guard yourself against phishing by reviewing these tips on how to identify potentially harmful efforts to access your sensitive data.
- Watch for bad grammar, poor spelling, and awkward formatting.
- Be skeptical of emails that urge immediate action or make threats.
- Look at the sender’s address. If you’ve never spoken to the sender before or the sender represents a group that you’re unfamiliar with, be extra careful. Scammers may also pose as legitimate business or people you know to try to earn your trust.
- Check links. Before you click on a link in an email, hover your cursor over the link to check its web address. If you’re not familiar with the website, don’t click on the link.
- Don’t give anyone your password or personal information. ITS will never ask for your password or personal information when reaching out to you, and most reputable organizations won’t either.
- Phishing can be phone calls too. If someone claiming to be a legitimate organization asks for your personal information over the phone, hang up and call that agency back on their publicly available phone number.
Contact itshelp@law.upenn.edu if you’ve received a dubious email. When in doubt, please reach out to us.
Immediately change your passwords if you’ve clicked on a phishing link or given anyone your private data. Email itshelp@law.upenn.edu for help with further securing your data in the event of a breach.
Go here for more details about phishing, and check out examples of phishing emails received by members of the UPenn community here.