Module 3.2 - Phishing & Internet Scams

 Phishing & Internet Scams

exclamation-point.png Don't Be Fooled!

"Phishing is when a scammer uses fraudulent emails or texts, or copycat websites to get you to share valuable personal information – such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, or your login IDs and passwords. Scammers use your information to steal your money or your identity or both."2

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Phishing1

You don't have to visit nefarious websites to encounter malicious content. Many sources of infection are delivered right to your inbox. Our district has multiple layers of protection from tainted email. Hover over a link in an email, and you might see something like this:

email proofpoint.png

In this example, the link was rewritten and is being redirected to a "service where the URL and website is analyzed. If the URL is considered bad: The user will be shown a page informing them 'The website has Been Blocked!' If the URL is considered good: The user will be re-directed to the website."3 One cannot assume the link is not malicious, just because it has been scanned, but rather it did not register as a known "bad" site and did not get blocked (yet). The link may be perfectly fine.

This is where the human element comes into play. Is the actual sender known to you and did you expect this email? In any case, remember this:

We know there are known malicious sites, we know there are unknown malicious sites...

 

1 Phishing | Todos los meses se crean 1,4 millones de páginas … | Flickr : taken from - https://www.flickr.com/photos/135518748@N08/37003549720/in/photolist-YnSS9y-dCYJt9-ganU1-fHp5v-7KY2PW-4btXzV-fHp5H-6xKgdf-4rx7uM-67duw7-7FwPc-6NKr-f7CSv-7e8x8K-9PbNme-5Q3VH4-67duz7-72huXw-fBNnVQ-7VBCxR-juHAH-67duEL-4GXKK-T6igTd-5SLDqJ-kBg1F2-2qcjb-qDmC9-3KyVBv-ezkEfV-4bxZVJ-azJzRG-8X9jwv-ganU4-8kvtRM-g3PiW-pbHZ8-bt7w8C-56zgjE-aR2VV-RJytDa-7jJsv-x9zYUh-22JyBg-64Aii3-f2jqb5-7uYNdB-bYAFo-5JN61-7CbZKw Links to an external site. Author: portal gda https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Links to an external site.
2 "Phishing | Consumer Information - Consumer.FTC.gov - Federal Trade ...." https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing Links to an external site.. Accessed 31 Oct. 2017.
3 "URL Defense FAQ's - Proofpoint Essentials Support." 16 Sep. 2015, http://support.proofpointessentials.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/170/34/url-defense-faqs Links to an external site.. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.