Phishing for Info

I just got an email from the admins telling me to ignore an email from a "member".  This member was sending out what the industry calls a phishing email.  A phishing email is a type of email sent out be scammers that attempts to get the recipient to give up some type of personal information or take some action like installing an app or going to a link.

So how do you recognize a phishing email?  There are some tell tales you can look for.  Often there is a sense of urgency to them with pressure for you to take some action.  The email may look like it is from someone you know but if you look at the email address, it belongs to someone else.  If there is a link, it may be obfuscated by being in a shortened link or it may be html encoded so that different text is displayed instead of the actual link.  There may be attachments with the email. 

The best thing you can do is ignore those and delete them. You may also be able to report the attempt.  Google has a report phishing button now that allows you to report those.  Other email services may also have that same button.  Use it.  Do not click on attachments or links as they can lead to you accessing and downloading malicious software.