Numerous reports of various phishing attempts have been reported in recent days. Subject lines have included:
- Email Upgrade Notification
- Notification regarding your pending transfer
- Please verify your tax information
- Mailbox Storage Limit Exceeded
- Your Mailbox Is Almost Full
Though the content of the messages may vary, the goal is the same: to get you to hand over something of yours willingly, whether your password information or use of your computer by clicking on a link. The clues that these are phish also share similar qualities:
- Empty TO and/or FROM field
- An ambiguous or unknown sender
- A generic salutation (such as “Dear User”)
- A sense of urgency to the request often tied to the threat of you may lose something if you don’t respond
- Typos and grammatical errors
If you receive anything like this, DO NOT click on any links nor respond to it. Instead, report it as phishing (from the original email click on the down arrow — to the right of the REPLY button — and select “Report phishing”).
See other postings to the “Phishing & Malware Alerts” section of this blog for more examples.
