How to Identify a Phishing Email

Review the information below to learn how to better identify false email senders and topics.Sending the message as an attached file is crucial so necessary Internet headers are included. You must send the message from the inbox of the original recipient.

What is spam?

Spam is unsolicited junk email sent indiscriminately in bulk, often for commercial purposes. Much of it is sent by botnets, networks of virus-infected computers, complicating the process of tracking down the spammers. According to various estimates, about 80% of all email in the world may be spam.

What is phishing?

Phishing is the practice of defrauding users into giving up their usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal information. Phishing emails will often try to get you to click on links that take you to fake websites. They often pretend to be from organizations such as a bank, PayPal, Amazon, or even TeamDynamix.

Identifying a Phishing Email

Non-Personalized Greetings: Watch out for generic salutations. Phishing emails often lack personalization. 

Errors in Spelling and Grammar: Be alert to mistakes in spelling and grammar. Professional emails usually don't have these errors.

Pressuring Language: Beware of urgent or threatening language demanding immediate action. This is a common tactic in phishing attempts.

Requests for Sensitive Information: Never give out passwords, bank details or other sensitive information in response to an email request.

Suspicious Links or Attachments: Check if the links or attachments match the sender's domain. Phishers often use misleading links that appear legitimate.

Mismatched Email Domains: Verify the sender's email address. It should align with the legitimate organization they claim to represent. A mismatch is a red flag.

Always stay vigilant and think twice before responding to emails that exhibit these warning signs.

Never respond to email asking you to provide personal information. No department from MCC will ever send an email asking you for your username or password to "update our records". Businesses and organizations will never ask you for personal information by email.

Using Outlook (Office 365), notify IT staff of suspicious email by clicking the "report suspicious":

1. Review the message, checking for any of the phishing identifiers above.
2. Click the "report suspicious" (PhishAlarm) button located on the Message Ribbon.
   
3. Message will be submitted to IT security staff to inspect and flag.

Using Outlook (O365/web):

1. Review the message, check for any of the phishing identifiers above.
2. In the Outlook menu bar, click the "Report" button and select Report Phishing

If you receive something you are unsure is suspicious you should send the message to reportsuspicious@mccneb.edu as an attachment.