Phishing Season Is Open!

Please be Aware: It’s that time of year when bad agents begin phishing for passwords,
financial data, and other personal information. These attacks succeed only 10 percent
of the time, but the consequences of a successful phishing campaign can be
devastating for the victims. Don’t fall for it. Stay alert, and be careful when asked for
personal data online.
Here are 10 tips for protecting yourself from a phishing expedition:
1. KEEP your computer security up to date. Back up your data often.
2. ENSURE the return email address is associated with the company. Avoid
responding to any emails that offer email addresses that are clearly third-party.
3. NEVER respond to an email that is not addressed to you specifically.
4. BE WARY of emails with poor grammar and spelling or awkward sentence
structures.
5. DON’T feel pressured to respond to an email immediately. Building a sense of
urgency is Job 1 for phishers.
6. LOOK for the contact information for the sender. If there is no name or phone
number, the email is likely to be bogus.
7. AVOID clicking on links or downloading files from unknown senders.
8. NEVER provide personal or financial information, including passwords, your
birthday, or banking information, without verifying that the request is legitimate and
necessary.
9. CHANGE any compromised passwords immediately. Don’t use them anywhere.
10. IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, it is!!
And remember….
DON’T TRUST ….. VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY …. WHEN IN DOUBT—VERIFY

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Courtesy Stanford University Phishing Awareness Program

LINKEDIN POST:
Phishing Season Is Open!

It’s that time of year when bad agents begin phishing for passwords, financial data, and
other personal information. These attacks succeed only 10 percent of the time, but the
consequences of a successful phishing campaign can be devastating for the thousands

of victims who fail to spot the bogus email. Don’t fall for it. Stay alert, and be careful
online. For 10 tips to protect yourself, read our latest blog. [LINK] And remember:
DON’T TRUST, VERIFY!

Facebook POST:
Phishing Season Is Open!

It’s that time of year when bad agents begin “phishing” for passwords, financial data,
and other personal information. These attacks succeed only 10 percent of the time, but
the consequences of a successful phishing campaign can be devastating for the
thousands of victims who fail to spot the bogus email. Don’t fall for it. Stay alert, and be
careful online. For 10 tips to protect yourself from phishers, read our latest blog. [LINK]
And remember: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS!

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