FAQs about Phishing

What is phishing?

Phishing tries to trick users into giving up sensitive information by getting them to open a suspicious email or click a suspicious link.

Usually, the goal of phishing is to acquire someone's personally identifiable information like usernames, passwords or banking information.

What happens if someone falls for a phishing attempt?

If you open the email or attachment or click the link, you could provide a remote user access to your device and information.

What do I do if my device is engaged in phishing campaigns?

Here are ways you can treat and avoid your device becoming part of a phishing scheme:

  • Make sure any emails, attachments or links you receive are from legitimate sources before opening or clicking anything that looks unfamiliar or suspicious. Phishing attempts may look legitimate, but by examining the email or link closely, or by hovering your mouse over the link destination to check where it leads, one can usually tell it’s suspicious and not to be trusted.
  • Perform a thorough virus and malware scan on your device using downloadable applications like the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.
  • If you have anti-virus software installed, make sure you’re always updated with the latest version.
  • If you’ve completed the above but your device is still acting strangely, bring it to a third-party computer repair technician to solve the problem.