ACC Information Security is seeing a rise in phishing emails and is asking employees to stay alert and think before they click.

Phishing scams are one of the most common ways for data to be breached. Often, scammers will include malicious links or attachments in emails that look harmless — be wary of attachments, emails that request personal information, or any clickable links. 

Austin Community College will never request personal information, usernames, passwords, or money from you via email.   

Email best practices

Information Security suggests the following email best practices to help you avoid falling for a phishing scam:

  • Watch for email senders that:
    • You do not know
    • Use suspicious or misleading domain names
    • Include grammar and spelling errors
    • Display a sense of urgency 
  • Do not click on links or attachments from senders that you do not recognize. Be especially wary of .zip, shared Google Docs, or other compressed or executable file types.
  • Never provide sensitive information (like usernames and passwords) over email.
  • Be especially cautious when opening attachments or clicking links if you receive an email containing a warning banner indicating that it originated from an external source.
  • Pay special attention to Google Docs that are shared with you or that you are tagged in. Hackers may use a Google account to create a Google Document and then comment on it to mention the target with an @. This triggers a legit Google notification and may contain malicious content.

If you are unsure whether an email is legitimate, contact ACC Information Security at [email protected].

Steps to report an email as phishing

 On the original email:

  • Select the three dots next to the “Reply” arrow
  • Select “Report phishing”

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