Email Phishing Scams – What to Look for and How to Address Them
Currently, our Microsoft account is set up to send emails about quarantined messages using my email address, which makes it easier to identify as legitimate. If you are ever unsure, refer to the items highlighted in red - these indicate potential issues with the message.
Indicators of phishing scam emails include suspicious sender addresses, poor grammar and spelling, unnecessary urgency, requests for sensitive information, links that do not match the domain, unfamiliar senders, suspicious attachments, and a sense of panic or threat in the message.
Key points to watch out for:
- Sender details: Check if the sender email address looks slightly different from a legitimate company, with misspellings or unusual characters.
- Grammar and spelling: Phishing emails often contain noticeable grammatical errors or typos.
- Urgent tone: Emails that create a sense of urgency, demanding immediate action or threatening consequences, are likely phishing attempts.
- Suspicious links: Hover over links in the email to see if the displayed URL matches the intended website.
- Personal information requests: Be wary of emails asking for sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, or social security numbers.
- Unfamiliar sender: If the email is from someone you don't recognize, be cautious.
- Attachments: Avoid opening attachments from unknown senders, especially if they seem unexpected.
Example:
What to do if you suspect a phishing email:
- Do not click on links or open attachments
- Do not reply to the email
- Block and Delete the email
- Report the email to your email provider
- Check with the company directly: if you are unsure about the email's legitimacy.
If you happen to receive a quarantine email notification from me, the actions available for messages in the quarantine notification depend on why the message was quarantined and the permissions in the associated quarantine policy. For example, the policy I set up for our accounts will allow you to review the message, send me a request to release the message from quarantine, or block the sender.
- Review Message: Selecting the action takes you to the details flyout of the message in quarantine. From there, you can determine if you want the email released from quarantine or to block the sender.
- Request Release: Selecting the action opens an informational web page acknowledging the request to release the message from quarantine (The message release request has been initiated. The Admin will determine if the request should be approved or denied).
- Block Sender: Click this link to add the sender to your Blocked Senders list.
It is essential to keep your and Gills Point S's data secure. Feel free to contact me if you receive an email that looks suspicious and needs more clarification.
As always - please report, block, and delete!
Block senders or mark email as junk in Outlook.com or Outlook on the web.
Blocking someone will stop their email coming to your Inbox, and reporting an email as Junk will help improve your Outlook.com experience.
How to block someone
- To block someone, select the messages or senders you want to block.
- From the top toolbar, select ... then Block > Block sender.
- Select OK. The messages you select will be deleted and all future messages will be blocked from your mailbox.
Notes:
- To unblock someone, open your Block senders list and select the next to their name.
- If you're still receiving email in your Inbox from a sender you blocked, see Receiving email from blocked senders in Outlook.com.
Report email as junk or spam
- Select the messages you want to report as junk.
- From the top toolbar, select Report > Report Junk.
Notes:
- If you reported an email as junk by mistake, go to your Junk Email folder, select the message and this time select Report > Not Junk.
- If email is still being sent to your Junk folder in error, read Mail goes to the Junk folder by mistake.
- Junk email is retained for 30 days before it is automatically deleted.