We have been informed that a number of our associates have received phishing emails from scammers pretending to work for/with our association. We take information security very seriously and ask that you also be vigilant in order to prevent fraud and to help protect our common interests. Cyber-attacks are an ongoing concern for everybody. Such attacks include phishing emails, designed to trick you into visiting malicious sites or downloading malware used to steal data and damage networks. This reminder sets out general guidance on how to protect yourself, ours and your company against such malicious cyber-attacks. See some tips below to help stay safe.
DO:
- Check for misspellings, grammatical errors, and abnormal spacing that may be indicative of a phishing email.
- Check links by using your mouse to hover over the hyperlink to determine if the URL makes sense with the sender—e.g., matching the sender name to the URL; whether there’s a foreign name or location in the URL.
- Report as junk any suspicious emails, and block any suspicious senders
DO NOT:
- Reply to, open attachments from, or click on URLs from unknown and untrusted sources.
- Ever send personal/sensitive information via email—e.g., passwords, credit card number, social insurance number, or account number.
RED FLAGS
Does the address in the ‘To’ field match the sender of the email?
Does the email ask for any sensitive/personal information (password, credit cards, SIN, etc.)?
Does the email ask for sensitive information about others?
Does the email ask you to immediately act or open an attachment to avoid account closure?
Does the hover-text link match what’s in the text?
MORE RESOURCES:
Identify a scam or fraud | ontario.ca
Always Be On Alert For Phishing Attacks | IT Security (uconn.edu)
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams | Consumer Advice (ftc.gov)
