Technology Department News

Black Friday Phishing

Ah, there’s nothing like phishing on Black Friday. The sun breaking over the horizon, the water gently lapping.

Oops. Phishing, not fishing. Phishing is bad.

This is an example of a Phishing email. The scammers have used the amazon logo. They have included “deals” that seem reasonable. However:

  • The sender’s email does not match with amazon
  • Hovering your cursor over the link will display a link to a site other than amazon
  • There is some odd wording

Please be aware of phishing attempts and scams.

A few things to remember:

  • Just because it has a logo, doesn’t mean it comes from the company. It is easy to copy and paste the Amazon logo, the Apple logo, etc.
  • Watch out for things that are “time-sensitive”
  • Do NOT use the link within an email to log in and fix an issue. Type the URL into the URL bar yourself
  • Watch out for “tracking numbers” that claim to come from UPS, FedEx, etc.
  • Be wary of promised Gift Cards for completing a survey (almost all of these are fraudulent).

Also:

  • Reputable companies won’t ask for your Social Security Number/Bank Account Number/Credit card to prove who you are
  • Remember that phishers are trying to get information (either log in information, credit card numbers, or personal information)