It’s true. Sometimes just participating online is intimidating and scary. There are the stories of identity theft and cyberstalking and phishing. Even the terms are intimidating and scary.
Today I received (yet another) phishing message. This time, however, it didn’t come through email. This one came to me as a meeting reminder on Google Calendar. It took me a minute to figure out if it was real or not. Take a look:
Reading that my Gmail account might be suspended was really scary — in fact I felt my heart stop for just a moment. And to get the message directly through a Google service made it even scarier.
But then I did what everyone needs to do — stop, read, think. First I took a deep breath and considered whether I thought that Google would contact me through my calendar to tell me that my email was going to be canceled. Probably not. Then I slowly re-read the message and saw the tell-tale phishing characteristics:
- A request for my username
- A request for my password
- A request for my date of birth
Google doesn’t need any of that information from me because:
- They already have it
- The don’t need it to continue providing me with an account
And the worst phishing indicator of all: the message asks me to email the confidential account information to a gmail.com email address. No reputable service will ever ask you to email them confidential information they already have to confirm their records.
In offline life we lock our cars, lock our house and take care to not leave our wallets and purses out in the open. We shred confidential papers and watch our incoming and outgoing mail. It’s the same online. If you get an email or visit a website (or now get a calendar meeting request) that just doesn’t make sense, stop, read, and think. If you’re still not sure, do what you’d do offline — pick up the phone and call to confirm/report. If you don’t know who to call, ask a friend.
More Info
Comments:
