How to catch a phish Ever get an urgent email where at first it seems entirely believable but then when you really start looking at it, you wonder if it’s real or a phishing scam? Review this sample phishing message to see some of the tell-tale signs that you are being phished. (Notes are below the image.) Who is this? Is the email address shown a valid email address for the sender? Is it from the expected domain? Are there misspellings? Do replies go to the same address shown in the From section? Do they go to an expected location? In Outlook, you may have to click File > Properties to see the true reply-to address. Does the subject line go with the rest of the message? Is it something the “sender” would say? Is there an unusual sense of urgency? Is the message personalized other than containing the email address to which it was sent? Would you expect the sender to know your name or have it in your account records? Are there misspellings, incorrect capitalizations, or awkward sentence structures? Hover over any links. Do they match the text? Do they lead to the site expected? Is the domain (the part immediately to the left of com) the actual site? (e.g. microsoft.com vs microsoft.fakesite.com) Is there a sense of urgency? A short deadline with drastic consequences for missing it? Too many exclamation points? Don’t be fooled by realistic footers. These are copied from a legitimate email. The links down here may take you to a legitimate site, but they’re betting you won’t click on them.