Phishing is a type of cyber-attack that uses deceptive emails, text messages, or websites to try to gather personal information, such as account credentials, financial details, or any other sensitive information.
Most of the time, the person behind the phishing content is presenting as a reputable company (banks, universities, etc.) in order to trick people to give them their information.
Ways to Spot & Analyze Phishing:
🐟 Be cautious with email links and attachments, especially if you do not know who it is coming from.
🐟 Verify the sender’s credibility by double checking the email address, and cross reference it with known and trusted contact information.
🐟 Be aware of emails sent from external senders, or from addresses outside of the university/organization.
🐟 Scrutinize all email content. Look for grammar/spelling mistakes, unusual requests that involve sensitive information or requesting money in any way.
Examples of Phishing:
🐟 Email:
- The offer is too good to be true.
- The greeting and salutation is to informal for a university.
- The link is ambiguous with little information about the proposed “opportunity.”
🐟 Text Message:
- The attacker is pretending to be Arvest Bank.
- There is a sense of urgency to click the link.
- It does not address the client by name, but instead uses the generic term, “Client.”
- The link is suspicious.
If You Are Unsure…
When in doubt, ALWAYS err on the side of caution! You can always reach out to the Campus Support Center at (479) 968-0646, or visit RPL 150, to verify the legitimacy of any suspicious emails you receive.
Thank you for helping make Arkansas Tech cyber safe!