Three Tips to Avoid Phishing Scams — Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Outsmart Digital Scammers: Three Tips to Avoid Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are deceptive online messages that appear to come from a trusted source. It’s easy to accidentally open an email, attachment, or image that looks safe but is actually a trick to access your personal data or infect your device with malware.

PHISHING TIP — CISA/BLACKSWAN FLYER

1. Spot the Red Flags

Be on the lookout for:

  • Urgent or emotionally charged language
  • Requests for personal or financial information
  • Suspicious or shortened URLs
  • Email addresses that don’t match the supposed sender
  • Unexpected attachments
  • Poor grammar or misspelled words (less common but still possible)

2. Report and Resist

Use the “report spam” option for suspicious messages. If the email looks like it’s from a familiar organization, go directly to the organization’s website to find official contact information and alert them.

3. Delete Without Engaging

Avoid replying to suspicious messages or clicking on any links or attachments, even if it’s an “unsubscribe” link—it could lead to more phishing. Just delete the message. Don’t reply or click on any attachment or link, including any “unsubscribe” link. The unsubscribe button could also carry a link used for phishing. Just delete. If a message looks suspicious, it’s probably phishing. But even if there’s a possibility it could be real, don’t click any link, attachment, or call any number.

Look up another way to contact a company or person directly:

  • Go to a company’s website to find their contact information
  • Call the individual at a known number and confirm whether they sent the message
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