New phish

First off …

ETFO

Today marks a day of strike action by ETFO members throughout the province:

Details here.

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You had to know that this was coming from the bad guys out there.

Taking advantage of the public’s concern about the outbreak of the Coronavirus, there are now phishing emails. The ones that I’ve read about include a link, obviously, to have you download a PDF file or to register yourself with some sort of local database.

They actually look kind of legitimate. They come from seemingly credible sources like the World Health Organization or the Center for Disease Control.

With any luck, these messages that arrive will be tossed into your Spam or Junk message folder and you’ll never even see them.

But, should you get one, standard identifying techniques should be used.

• hover your cursor over the email address and look very closely at the email address showing where it’s coming from. While the user name can be legitimate looking, the actual email address provides the rest of the story
• hover your cursor over any link or button in the email asking you to download or follow the link and look at the popup to see exactly where it would go if you decided to click
• if you’re asked for personal information, that’s a dead giveaway. Don’t do it
• look for grammar errors or sketchy looking URLs – the World Health Organization surely could hire someone to proofread a legitimate message
• use common sense – does the World Health Organization really know your email address?

If you need legitimate information, look for details from the Ontario Ministry of Health

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/coronavirus/

or your local heath unit

https://www.wechu.org/z-health-topics/novel-coronavirus-2019

And, if you need a refresher course on spotting phishing attempts, check out the one that I recommended last year.

https://dougpete.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/another-phishing-quiz/

Just stay safe.