Knowledge Base: Library Help

What is a phishing e-mail?

It is a method of trying to gather personal information by using deceptive e-mails.  Criminals attack by sending a fake e-mail asking you to click a link or download an attachment, which appears as a legitimate source. We are all susceptible to this form of theft and invasion of our financial safety.  As an example, Google and Facebook were taken for $100 million each: for two years, phisher ‘Rimasauskas’ sent Google and Facebook fake invoices, making over $200 million dollars before being caught.

Some scam e-mails and posts can look legitimate. Servus Credit Union provides a list on how to recognize a phishing scam.  Knowing what to inspect in your email can keep your devices and information safe.

• Attachments or links from people that you are not expecting.
• Very urgent requests for you to provide information, transfer money or buy gift cards.
• Typos in the subject line or body of an e-mail.
• The e-mail address or link does not match the person or company it’s coming from.
• Telling you that you suddenly owe a lot of money or have had a large sum of money become available to you.

Paying close attention to the points made above can greatly reduce your chance of falling victim to this scam.

 Below are a few suggestions to protect yourself from these phishing emails. 

Protect your email address - These attackers use your email addresses against you.  Create a separate email address for different purposes, ie: have one email for financial uses and another for work or social email. 

Carefully verify the emails you receive - Always check the sender address! Read the email carefully and identify that no alterations like numbers or letters have been included in the address. Bad grammar is prevalent in these emails. Watch out for suspicious links: they can open to fake webpages or download spam to your computer.

Some other points to consider:

• The sender of the email will usually not be an official communication account
• The link contained in the phishing email will also not be an official site
• Emails can also come from people that you know but with subtle variations

Report phishing, scams or fraud:

• If you have received a phishing attempt, or suspect that you may be a target of a scam or fraud, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by telephone at 1-888-495-8501 or through their Fraud Reporting

https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm