Email

Phishing emails often attempt to use emotional triggers to get you to react quickly without thinking through whether you should respond, such as dire language about time limits, loss of service, penalties, or language targeting a desire for money. They often have grammar, spelling, and syntax errors, and phrasing that a native speaker would not use.

An example would be an email with a generic greeting warning of a change in an account requiring you to verify your account information. These emails typically include directions to reply with private information, or provide a link to a web site to verify your account by providing personal information such as your name, address, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive personal information.

Example phishing email

Indicators of a phishing email:

• Name and email address don’t match
• Attempt to prove legitimacy using words such as ‘Official’
• Uses a real organization or company name but incorrect email address
• Poor grammar
• Unsolicited requests for personal information are a clear danger signal
• Misspellings