"Phishing" is a term used to describe scams designed to steal your identity. Scam artists try to obtain your personal information—passwords, credit card numbers, account numbers, birth date, or other information—by impersonating a person or company you trust. Phishing can be conducted via email, websites, telephone, or even postal mail.
REMEMBER: The Helpdesk will NEVER ask for you to email your password or to complete an online form and provide your password. If you receive messages like this, please take a moment to forward them to the IT department and then delete the message. This will allow us to research the potential threat and take appropriate action. DO NOT reply or click any included links.
What We're Doing to Help Protect You:
The IT department maintains a filtering system, which limits the amount of phishing emails you receive.
When phishing attacks are identified, we proactively contact recipients and directly warn them not to respond to messages.
Campaigns such as this website and messages to the community educate how to identify and respond to phishing messages.
As a part of our Written Information Security Program (WISP); Labouré College provides Information Security training to all employees distributed by Proofpoint, Inc. Each month, users are assigned a 10-15 minute security training module, completion of these modules is required before their due date.
How Can I Protect Myself?
Be suspicious of any unsolicited email, especially those that ask for sensitive information, have spelling mistakes, or have attachments. If you are unsure, visit the company or organization’s website directly and use the contact information posted there to contact someone that can assist you. Phishing attacks damage these brands' reputations and make it harder for the average internet user to distinguish between real emails and scams. Do not trust the contact information within the potential phishing email or click any links or attachments. Ensure a link will take you where it say's it will by hovering your mouse over the link. If the address shown doesn't match up with the link name it is most likely a phishing attempt.
Also keep in mind that approximately a third of phishing attacks happen through social media sites like Facebook without emails being involved. Common phishing scams include: E-cards, Travel Itineraries, Coupons or Advertisements, Delivery Receipts and Error Notices.
Learn about security tools offered by your Financial Institution:
Test your ability to identify a phishing scam: