Spotting a Phishing E-mail

Click here for detailed instructions on the November 2016 phishing attack that affected Newark Unified

What is phishing?
Phishing is when a malicious person or organization attempts to defraud you and gain access to your personal information (websites, financial, etc) by posing as a legitimate company.

How do I spot a phishing message?
If you receive an e-mail requesting information from you (to login, password, etc) and you do not recognize or expect it there is a very good chance it is a phishing e-mail.

If you receive a link in an e-mail to a page asking you to login, be very careful/wary.  On the page, check and make sure that the page is real or when in doubt, just type in the site directly to your address bar (i.e. paypal.com).  Here are examples of a real and fake page:

Tips for staying safe
There are a few different things you can do to stay safe online in general.  
  • Always be wary of requests for information that you are not expecting.
  • If the e-mail looks fishy, contact the sender via another means of communication (i.e. the phone) to verify the content.
  • Always make sure the website you're using is not a fake.  Type the website into the address bar yourself to be sure.
  • Beware of links in e-mails that ask for personal or login information.
  • Beware of pop-up pages that ask for personal information.
  • Be wary of urgent messages that need immediate responses, this is a common tactic among spammers.

Subpages (1): November 2016 Phishing Attack
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Nov 9, 2016, 2:02 PM
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Larry Simon,
Nov 9, 2016, 2:02 PM
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