Phishing attacks are unsolicited emails or text messages designed to try and steal your personal details such as usernames and passwords or bank details. They often look like genuine messages from legitimate organisations and usually ask you to confirm personal details or verify your account by clicking on a link that takes you to a fraudulent website that has been made to look like the company's own site. Some will even pretend to be from the University.
Most will be unexpected and will be requesting something slightly unusual and will try to pressure you into acting quickly. Remember to keep calm, nothing is so urgent that you haven’t got time to check it out. Nothing is so confidential that you can’t seek advice.
Always be wary of any email that asks you to click on a link and provide sensitive personal information such as banking details or username and passwords. Information submitted on these fraudulent websites is harvested by criminals and may be used to steal money from your account or steal your identity. Most legitimate companies would never request sensitive information from customers via email.
How to spot a phishing email