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You Got Phished

This was a test by the
Trilogy home healthcare IT department

HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY MALICIOUS E-MAILS?

  1. Identify the Sender. Do you know this person? Were you expecting an e-mail from this person or does it fit in with your job role? If not, it is probably suspicious.

  2. Reply-to. If the Reply-to address is different from the sending address, this should raise your suspicion for the whole message.

  3. Links and Attachments. If you were not expecting an attachment or a link, and you do not know the sender, do not open it! If you are not sure, check with the sender by phone (don’t use a phone number in the e-mail), otherwise report it.

  4. Grammar and Tone. Many of the malicious e-mails sent have poor grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In addition, you should know how your co-workers communicate. Does this message sound like them? If not, it is probably malicious.

  5. Emotions. Be wary of any e-mails trying to cause certain emotions. The most commonly-used malicious emotions are:

    • Greed. Messages offering or promising you money by clicking a link or giving away information are usually.malicious. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

    • Urgency. Unusually short deadlines create a false sense of urgency to act. Attackers employ this technique in attempts to confuse the recipient.

    • Curiosity. Attackers take advantage of our curiosity by promising something exciting or prohibited content.

    • Fear. Threatening recipients with negative consequences is a common tactic to generate responses—things such as threatening to shut off accounts or legal action.

TIPS TO AVOID A PHISHING SCAM

  • Be on the lookout for suspicious emails or text messages. Legitimate, responsible companies will never solicit personal information over email. Never reveal personal or financial information in response to an email request, no matter who appears to have sent it.

  • Don’t click on links or attachments in suspicious emails or text messages. Instead, visit the mentioned website directly by using a search engine to locate the real site. If the web address listed by the search engine and the address in the email do not match, the email is most likely a phishing attempt or spam, and you should delete it.

  • If you are still tempted to click, pick up the phone instead. If the message looks real and you are really tempted to respond, instead look up the phone number of the company and call them. Do not use any phone number in the email because it could be fake. Ask if the message was actually sent by the company and if you can take care of any issues over the phone instead.

HOW CAN I REPORT SUSPICIOUS E-MAILS?

  • Call the Trilogy IT Department or Forward and suspicious-looking emails to us and we will look over them

  • You can mark the emails as SPAM and then delete them so you do not accidentally open later on

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