As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping Niagara College’s community safe, we want to remind everyone about the importance of staying vigilant against phishing emails. Cyber threats can come at any time, often disguised as legitimate messages, so it’s important to always be cautious and aware.
Stay alert: Spot and report phishing emails
Phishing emails are designed to trick you into revealing personal information or compromising your accounts. By knowing what to look for and reporting suspicious emails, you help protect yourself and the College’s systems.
We’ve outlined simple steps and instructions below to help you monitor and detect phishing attempts.
How to spot a phishing email:
Phishing emails may look real but often have signs of fraud. Watch for these red flags:
- Urgent or threatening language, pressuring you to act immediately (i.e., “your account will be suspended”)
- Suspicious sender addresses with misspellings or unusual domains
- Unexpected attachments or links you weren’t expecting
- Spelling errors or unusual formatting
- Requests for personal information or login details
Common examples of phishing emails:
- Account Suspension: “Your email will be deactivated. Click here to keep access.” (Urgent tone, fake links)
- Fake Invoice/Payment: “Invoice overdue. See attached PDF.” (Unsolicited attachments, pressure to act)
- Password Expiry Notice: “Your password expires today. Reset now.” (Links to fake login pages)
- Gift Card Scam (Executive Impersonation): “Can you grab some gift cards for a client?” (Poses as leadership, asks for favours)
- Fake Job/Internship Offer: “Work from home, earn $300/week. Send your details.” (Requests personal info, too-good-to-be-true)
- Suspicious Login Alert: “New login from Toronto. Secure your account.” (Mimics security alerts)
If you see something suspicious, report it:
Do NOT click links, open attachments, or reply. Instead:
- Use the Phish Forwarding Button (Outlook users):
- Click the “Phish Forwarding” button to send the email securely to ITS and remove it from your inbox.
- Instructions for using the Phish Reporting button are available on the ITS website here: its.niagaracollege.ca/phishingbutton/
- Forward the email to the ITS Security Office:
- Send as an attachment or forward the message to [email protected]
- Forwarding as an attachment helps keep important email details for investigation.
Protect yourself and protect the College. When in doubt — don’t click. Report it.
Information Technology Services
