Phishing

Have you ever received an email from a seemingly reputable source that looks legitimate, only to realise that upon closer inspection it is a scam?

This is called phishing.

Phishing emails:

• aim to trick you into revealing personal information (such as login credentials, financial details or identification information)
• can appear very similar to legitimate emails in their language, look and feel
• usually contain small details that will alert you to the fact they are a scam.

These emails tend to be either sent to a large number of people in the hope of fooling a few (bulk phishing) or are sent specifically to a single person or small group of people (spear phishing).

Typically, bulk phishing emails appear to come from large, well-known organisations you trust. They often contain a link to a fake website where you are encouraged to enter your personal details or to download malware. Spear phishing emails can be more informal, personal and text-based.

Instead of email, phishing messages can sometimes be sent by SMS or on social media.

Students are increasingly becoming targets of phishing attacks. Always be on alert and check the following things before opening an email or clicking on the links it contains:

• Make sure the sender’s email address is legitimate eg. most Deakin emails come from an @deakin.edu.au email address.
• If you hover over a link before you click on it, you can see the link’s web address. Make sure it’s a legitimate link and doesn’t contain any suspicious words.
• Do not open any attachments that come from a suspicious sender.
• Always look for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in the language of the email.
• Beware of emails that want you to take immediate action eg. ‘Click here to upgrade your mailbox NOW!’
• Check if the action being requested in the email normal or if it is out of the blue. Pay attention to messages from people that are unexpected (someone asking for your personal details or requesting you to make a payment not following normal Deakin processes).

If you receive an email to your Deakin account that you are suspicious may be a phishing email, you can easily report it to our Digital Services team.

• Click ‘Report’ in the toolbar and click ‘Report phishing’, or
• Click the 'Phish Alert Report' button in the toolbar, or
• Click the three small dots in the top right of the email (More actions) and click ‘Phish Alert V2’ (the envelope icon with an orange hook).

The exact location of the button will depend on the version of Outlook you are using.

You can also forward the email to spam@deakin.edu.au.

You will receive a response from the Cyber Security team to let you know the outcome of your report.

If you receive an unsolicited or ‘junk’ email, just ignore it and delete it.