Phishing
Phishing is a cyber-attack which tries to trick you into giving away personal, business, or other valuable information. It’s the most frequent form of cyber-attack at the University of Exeter, so it’s essential to know how to spot and report phishing attacks.
What is a phishing attack?
- Phishing attacks are often email messages which are designed to look genuine. It's easy for attackers to forge the “sender address” or use similar links, so they can be very convincing.
- QR codes are also a popular tool for phishing attacks. When you scan the QR code, you’re redirected to an imposter website.
- Attacks are often trying to obtain bank details, usernames and passwords, business or research data, or other important information. They can use these details to commit crimes such as stealing money, identity fraud, or carrying out more advanced cyberattacks.
Reporting Phishing
Outlook
Ensure the message is selected in Outlook, then from the toolbar choose Report Message as shown:
Select either Junk or Phishing as appropriate; you will see the following message, highlighted in red below, display for a few seconds at the top of the email.
The email will be moved to your Deleted Items folder and flagged to IT Security Operations for further investigation.
Outlook on a browser
If you are using Outlook in a browser please follow the below steps to report a Phishing email.
Ensure the email is selected and choose Report from the ribbon as shown below.
The following message will display.
Click Report, and then OK on the subsequent message; the email will be moved to your Deleted Items folder and flagged to IT Security Operations for further investigation.
Outlook on Android
If you are using Outlook on your Android device please use the following steps.
Select the message and tap on the ellipsis (⋮) at the top of the screen.
Choose Report junk from the dropdown menu.
Choose either Junk or Phishing as appropriate.
The email will be moved to your Deleted Items folder and flagged to IT Security Operations for further investigation.
Outlook on iOS
If you are using Outlook on your iOS device please use the following steps.
Select the message, tap on the ellipsis (...) at the top of the screen and choose Report Junk from the dropdown menu.
Choose either Junk or Phishing as appropriate.
Confirm by tapping on Report.
The email will be moved to your Deleted Items folder and flagged to IT Security Operations for further investigation.
If an email is suspicious, it’s useful to remember “EMAIL”:
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Expected
Phishing emails often use urgent or attention-grabbing messages. Did you expect to receive it?
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Message
Look for poor spelling and grammar. Is the message asking you to do something unusual?
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Attachments
Some phishing attacks hide a QR code inside a text document. Are any suspicious files attached?
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Identity
If an email comes from outside the organisation, Outlook will show a mail tip to let you know. Do you recognise the sender address?
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Links
You can hover over links to see where they lead without clicking on them. Are there links to suspicious or unknown websites?