Identify Phishing Email

Objective

Learn how to Identify Phishing Emails

Users

  • Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Affiliates
  • Volunteers
  • Alumni
  • Other users with a University of Nebraska email account

Before You Begin

You will need to log into your university email in an approved Outlook Client

  • Bank Accounts should never be accessed using a link in an email. Always use the bank's website to login.
  • Unsolicited email promising money or a job.
    • Job scams may include promises and details for a personal assistant, pet sitter, or some other temporary job.
    • One such scam is telling you that they will send a check for more than you are to be paid, and you will use the extra money to pay for supplies, etc.
      • The check that is sent to you is a fraudulent check, and the bank will not know it until they try to collect on the check. 
      • If you have spent the money, you will be responsible for paying the money back to the bank.
  • Communications regarding unemployment insurance forms when you have not applied for unemployment benefits. 
  • Communications regarding any fees involved in filing or qualifying for unemployment insurance.

  • Make sure that the email is coming from someone's correct email address
    • Campus Emails should be from the following addresses(@unk.edu, @unl.edu, @unomaha.edu, @nebraska.edu)
  • Check for a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes within the email
  • Make sure the process\procedures makes sense for whom the email is coming from
    • I.E. Receiving an email from "Financial Aid" about registering for classes 
  • Double check that the links in the email point to where they should
  • For Examples of the topics above check out the Photos Below. Please click on a Photo to see a larger version of it. 
    Examples of specific things to look for in Phishing Emails
  • For More examples of the topics above check out the Photos Below. Please click on a Photo to see a larger version of it. 
    More examples of specific things to look for in Phishing Emails

  • Think before you click
    • You shouldn’t automatically trust any email message, especially if it sounds frightening or too good to be true.
    • Familiar logos, senders’ names, and personal information are often faked by scammers.
  • Be wary of unexpected requests for personal information.
    • ITS will never ask you for your login or passwords or other personal information.
  • Never send any account numbers, PINs, or login credentials through email 
  • Verify attachments before opening or downloading
    • Even if an email seems to come from a company or person you trust, don’t open an unexpected attachment.

Dealing with a Phishing Email

If you feel that you have received a phishing email to your university email account please follow the instructions in the Report Phishing Article to Report it

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Related Articles (1)

This article will help teach users how to Report Phish via outlook both on Desktop and Mobile

Related Services / Offerings (3)

Proofpoint Email Security Gateway is an email protection service provided to protect faculty and staff from email threats by securing and controlling inbound and outbound email.
DocuSign is an electronic signature, transaction management, and document workflow service.
Microsoft Outlook is the official Email tool for the University of Nebraska System