This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, learn to identify the red flags of a phishing scam so you’ll be prepared to stop a scam when tempted. It’s not a matter of if it happens to you, but when, as millions of phishing attempts are sent to inboxes every day.

Red Flags of a Phishing Scam:

Suspicious links and attachments - Attachments are often used as vehicles for malware. Once you open or download an attachment, your device could be infected. Links can be spoofed to look like it leads you to a legitimate website, but it’s a fake. Once you enter usernames, passwords or other personal information, a con artist has some of what he or she needs to commit identity theft and cyber crimes.

Poor grammar and misspellings - Watch for poor use of grammar, misplaced punctuation, misspellings, and inconsistent formatting, as these could be indicators of a possible phishing attempt.

Spoofed email address of sender - Double check the sender’s full email address if you think an email is suspicious. Cyberthieves can spoof addresses to make it look like the sender is a legitimate brand or trusted individual. The email address will closely resemble a legitimate address, but may have an extra character or space.

An urgency to respond with personal info - Cyberthieves may use a false sense of urgency or importance to help persuade an individual to download an infected attachment or click on a link without examining it first. Examples include: “You’ve Won,” “Urgent Response Needed,” “Bill Overdue,” etc.

It’s important to note that Armstrong will never ask you for your personal or financial information by email. If you receive a suspicious email claiming to be from Armstrong, forward it to abuse@zoominternet.netand our network engineers will investigate.