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What is Phishing?
Phishing is a type of scam where a malicious actor sends emails (and sometimes text messages) that are designed to look “official” and urgent, in order to get you to quickly click on a malicious link or respond in some way. They can be extremely deceptive, and they are frequently used to steal sensitive personal information (such as banking passwords) and university data
When looking at a potential phishing email, what are you looking at when you are looking at their email address?
-You are looking at who they are, (student, staff, professor, or outside of the university)
-If it is an email from the company, does the email match or is there any spelling errors
You are purchasing concert tickets online and one of the payment options is to 'buy now, pay later'. It allows you to spilt the one big payment into 4 different payments you can make over time.
Not a scam
You get a call from someone claiming to be with the sheriff’s office. They say they need your personal information to update their neighborhood records.
Scam! (Imposter)
How do scammers often times hook people in through their email?
-by creating a sense of urgency
-saying that you are going to be locked out
-saying that your account will be deactivated
-by sharing a deal that is too good to be true
When looking at a potential phishing email, what are you looking for when you are looking at the link?
You are looking at the link to see if it matches the website that they are saying that they work for.
You need to look for any kind of misspelling in the link.
Someone emails you and claims you have won a new car. The email prompts you to click a link and enter personal information, including your Social Security number and bank account number. The email looks official, but the sender’s email address seems odd.
Scam! (Phishing)
An Instagram Ad encourages you to complete a survey for money. They ask for your personal information to complete the survey.
Scam!
You get a text message from the Post Office saying that they were unable to deliver a package and that they need further information from you so that the package can be delivered.
Phishing
What should be the first thing you do when get a random email from someone you do not know?
a. click on the link on the email
b. delete the email completely
c. Check who is sending the email
Check who is sending the email
You receive a letter in the mail from a company with a message that you’ve won a cash prize. To claim your prize, you’ll need to send them your bank account information so they can deposit the money into your account.
Scam! (Mail Fraud)
Your caller ID shows that a local number associated with the high school in your town is calling you. You answer and the person calling says they’re raising money for a local sports tournament.
Scam!
You get an email that says that you have received a specific scholarship that you do not remember applying to,should you trust the email or should you delete the email and loose the potential scholarship?
Delete the email,if you did not apply for the scholarship then it is a phishing attempt.
You get a call from someone raising money for a charity. They ask you to wire money immediately because they have a critical and urgent humanitarian need.
Scam! (Wire Transfer Fraud)
You receive your first check from your new job and it is less than you expected. The check says $40 went to social security tax.
Not a scam
How can you check if an email is Phishing, when you are sent an email about a Work Study Job on campus?
Look on the McMurry Website, where all the work-study jobs are posted, to see if it is legit.
What do Scammers do to make their emails and texts look legit?
They use logos from trust company's like Amazon, PayPal, Netflix,...
You log into your banking app and it asks you to complete 3 security questions to verify your identity.
Not a scam
Your old friend messages you and let's you know they are a part of a group making money. All you need to do is send this person $100 and you will get back $500.
Scam!
How can you check if an email is coming from who they say they are?
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