Phishing 101

Recently, a teacher at the high school reported receiving a phone call alleging that her school computer was using too much bandwidth. She did not recognize the number and thought the call was suspicious. So she hung up on the caller and reported the incident to the technology department. She did the right thing.

This call was an example of Phishing and is becoming more prevalent on the internet in both our personal and work lives. Awareness is the key to not being Phished.

What is phishing?

• an illegal attempt to acquire personal information (e.g., usernames, passwords, and credit card number) for malicious reasons. Wikipedia 

How does it happen?

• May happen through email messages, websites, and phone calls. 
• Cybercriminal pretends to be someone trustworthy (e.g., bank, tech department) Microsoft 
• An attempt will be made to convince you to hand over your personal information (passwords, bank info, credit card) under false pretenses. 

Be aware, Be wary, Beware

Phishing attempts may

• catch you off guard and get you to give personal information 
• ask you to download files from a website. 
• This malicious software is designed to steal your personal information, give control of your computer to the cybercriminal, and/or add viruses to your computer. 
• Emails and web sites may look real. 
• Never give out your password. 
• Only give out personal information when you initiate the email/call. 

How to avoid being phished.

Check out Visa's Top 5 Tips to Avoid Email Phishing Scams.  Also see the resource guide below.

Your Work Email and Computer

The Winchester Public School tech department will 

• never call you and ask for your username and/or password 
• never ask for personal information via email 
• never call you on weekends or after school hours 
• asks that you never provide your school passwords to anyone 

Want to learn more? 

Checkout

• Microsoft.com - How to recognize phishing email messages, links, or phone calls 
   
• Visa Online guide to help you to determine if you are being phished
   
• CBS News - 5 ways to protect yourself from phishing attacks

Image By Stomchak via Wikimedia Commons