Dear Student /Staff/Faculty, One of our staff, Mr. Henderson White. is looking to give away his late dad’s piano to a loving new home. The Piano is a 2014 Yamaha Baby Grand size used but still new. Kindly write to him to indicate your interest on his private email (Hendersonwhite123@mail.com) to arrange an inspection and delivery with a moving company. Kindly write Mr. Henderson White via your private email for a swift response.
Let’s break down the components of this phishing attempt.
First off, what is being asked of the recipient in this email? Almost always, a phishing attempt will contain a call to action, i.e., a request for the recipient to do something. This request will almost always be contained in the email. In this example, the sender is asking the recipient to email an address listed.
Phishing attempts will typically contain a few indications of the sender and the intentions behind the email not being legitimate.
“From: Stephane Andrade <dearglenn888@gmail.com>“: By carefully looking at the sending address in the email header, it can be seen that the sending address does not match the name of the individual and did not originate from its legitimate source, i.e., their Vassar email address. This is called email spoofing. Also, the first name of the individual is misspelled.
“Subject: free Piano donation“: The subject line contains grammatical errors, in this example erratic capitalization.
“Dear Student /Staff/Faculty, One of our staff, Mr. Henderson White.“: Here are more examples of grammatical errors.
“Kindly write to him to indicate your interest on his private email“: Here is a call to action for the recipient to complete.
“Stephane Andrade”: The email signature also contains a misspelling of the individual’s name. In addition, the email signature does not match the standardized style of emails originating from Vassar faculty and staff.
If the email contained only one indication, it wouldn’t make a strong case for it being a phishing attempt. But in most cases, phishing attempts will contain a number of indications of it being phishing related.
Remember: always be suspicious of emails you are not expecting, especially if they contain a call to action. This can look like a request to send an email to an external email address, opening a link or attachment, or disclosing sensitive information in an email reply. Oftentimes, there is a sense of urgency to complete the request.
If you receive an email you suspect to be a phishing attempt, make sure to forward that email to catchoftheday@vassar.edu.
