Phishing scams: 10 things to watch for

Phishing scams run rampant in today’s landscape. Keeping your computer up to date and patched helps in reducing an organization’s overall risk of infection, but being vigilant, prepared, and knowledgeable on how to detect and handle phishing emails (and educating the entire organization to do the same) is critical for protection today. Here are ten areas in an email to be mindful of.

IT experts Applied Connective View

1) Don't trust the display name of the sender

Just because it says it’s coming from a name of a person you know or trust doesn’t mean that it truly is. Be sure to look at the email address—not just the display name—to confirm the true sender. 

2) Look but don't click

Hover your cursor over parts of the email without clicking on anything. if the alt text looks strange or doesn’t match what the link description says, don’t click on it—report it!

3) Check for grammatical errors

Anyone can make a typo, but pay close attention to emails littered with grammatical errors. When crafting messages, scammers may use a spell-checker or translation tool, which will give them the right words but not in the proper context.

4) Consider the salutation

Attackers sometimes use general or vague greetings (e.g., “Dear valued customer”) to send emails out en masse. Or they may leave out the salutation entirely. It’s not always an indicator for a scam, but it can be a red flag indicating that something is off.

5) Requests for personal information

Is the email asking for sensitive or personal information? If so, be caution! You can always call the alleged sender or the company’s customer support or navigate to your account on their website to confirm if an action is required.

6) Be careful with attachments

Attackers trick victims by offering an enticing or seemingly normal attachment that contains malware. Never open an unsolicited email attachment that seems suspicious and call the sender to verify if necessary.

7) Beware of urgency

These emails might try to make it sound as if there is some sort of emergency (e.g., the CFO needs a $1M wire transfer immediately, a Nigerian prince is in trouble, or someone only needs $100 so you can claim your million-dollar reward).

8) Check the email signature

Most legitimate senders will include a full signature block at the bottom of their emails. If one doesn’t, be skeptical. Again, it might not indicate a threat…but it might.

9) Don't believe everything you see

If the email seems slightly odd or unusual, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you see something off, then it’s best to report it to your security operations center (SOC).

10) When in doubt, contact your SOC

No matter the time of day, no matter the concern, most SOCs would rather have you send something that turns out to be legitimate than to put the entire organization at risk.

More blog topics...

Kory Bourek

IT Support Specialist

Kyle Oldenkamp

Relationship Manager

Shelby James

IT Support Specialist in the Panhandle

Mandy Luettel

Director of Growth & Development

Noah Burwell

IT Support Specialist

Chase Gragg

IT Support Specialist

Vaughn Finkral

IT Support Specialist

Ron Leimser

IT Support Specialist

Jill Petsche

IT Support Specialist

Nevan Hoffman

IT Support Specialist

Lacey Henn

Administrative Assistant

Andrew Grupp

IT Support Specialist

Heath Murray

IT Support Specialist

Will Frey

AVS Technician

Konnor Gibson

IT Systems Specialist

  • Cereal
  • Cereal Bars
  • Oatmeal
  • Chili spice packets
  • Large cans of tomato juice
  • Chili beans
  • Fruit juices
  • Creamed soups (mushroom, chicken)
  • Spaghetti noodles
  • Spaghetti sauce
  • Tooth brush
  • Tooth paste
  • Detergent
  • Shampoo

Kenley Silhacek

Senior IT Systems Engineer

Mason Uhing

IT Support Specialist

Faith Nunn

IT Support Specialist

Kara Frey

Administrative Assistant

Brandi Lueninghoener

IT Support Specialist

“Lakeview Community Schools has enjoyed our partnership with Applied Connective. They have been incredibly responsive, knowledgeable, and cooperative as we have worked together. Applied Connective has provided a team-like atmosphere in their service!”

Aaron Plas, Superintendent

Lakeview Community Schools

“We have been very pleased with their communication, efficiency, and customer service over the course of the last few years. We would highly recommend ACT to any other schools out there looking for a reliable partner for your technology needs.”

Brandon Detlefsen, Technology Director

Central City Public Schools

“Their service is always reliable and timely, and the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. Our needs are their #1 priority! Boone Central is beyond grateful to have top-of-the line technology services and customer support.”

Nicole Hardwick, Superintendent

Boone Central Public Schools

“They’ve been with us every step of the way as we implemented phone systems, security cameras, and keypad doors. Their customer service is second to none, and their business knowledge is outstanding.”

Ronda Weber, Technology Coordinator

Burwell Public School

Applied Connective did an amazing job with our school security cameras. They were very professional and easy to work with. [They’re] patient with our questions and quickly respond when we need some direction. The cameras work great and are very easy to access. Thank you for a job well done!”

Amy Sokol, Principal

St. Anthony's School

Lance Bain

Voice Technician

Brigitte Burbach

HR Manager

Clay Anderson

IT Support Specialist

Brandon Petersen

Relationship Manager & IT Engineer

Relationship Manager/IT Engineer – I work side by side with our clients to ensure they are receiving the best value from our products and services, offer insights to improve their workflows, and resolve any issues that may arise as fast as possible.

Logan Niewohner

IT Systems Specialist

Justin Borgmann

Level 1 IT Technician

As a level 1 IT Technician, I assist customers in their daily IT needs, and respond to any issues that may arise.

Bryce Molt

Level 1 IT Technician

As a Level 1 IT Technician, I provide general help desk support for clients.

Weston Ray

Warehouse

Casey Schalk

AVS Technician

My role as a general technician at Applied Connective is primarily to work with the AVS crew to install and configure surveillance, internet, security, and voice technologies.

Grady Higgins

IT Support Specialist

Eric Beckman

AVS Project Foreman

Kris Wright

General Technician

My role as General Technician includes installation and troubleshooting of door access and camera security systems.

Mikki Mangus

General Accountant

Some of my duties as General Accountant include payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable and reconciliation. I am happy that I am part of the Applied Connective Team.

Heidi Kahlo

IT Technician

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Eric Petsche

General Technician

My role as a general technician at Applied Connective is primarily to work with the AVS crew to install and configure surveillance, security, Internet, and voice technologies.

Kelsi Funk

IT Systems Specialist

Chase Thieman

AVS Technician

My role as an AVS technician at Applied Connective is to work with the AVS team to install and configure surveillance, security, internet, and voice technologies.

Cody Banzhaf

IT Manager

Eric Henn

Voice Technician

My job is to do whatever Ed tells me to. Just kidding…sort of. I am part of the voice group.

Alex Herstedt

Telecom / IT Technician

As a Telecom/IT Technician, I work with traditional and hosted phone systems.

Scott Whaley

Level 2 IT Technician

I’m part of the IT team at Applied Connective, so my days are spent setting up new PCs for customers; troubleshooting broken PCs, printers, etc., and installing new hardware.  

Jessi Larson

Creative & Marketing

I’m in charge of creative content development and marketing—advertising, design, copywriting, PR, and social media as well as coordinating our philanthropy efforts—a wide variety, and I love it.

Matt Childress

Relationship Manager

Sara Rasmussen

IT Service Manager

Nathan Niewohner

IT Project Manager

Justin Niewohner

AVS Project Manager

I fit customers with the right surveillance, security, internet, phone, and audio-visual systems for their specific needs.

Ryan Robinson

AVS Service Technician

I provide and coordinate technical services and support for infrastructure, access control, surveillance, and audio/video solutions.

Jarod Dendinger

VP of Business Development

My role here at Applied Connective centers on business development, so that involves assisting our team in focusing on value-added processes as well as leveraging technology to provide solutions for our business partners that support them in continued success and growth.

Will Zoucha

VP of Operations

Ed Knott

President

As President at Applied Connective, I am responsible for organizational direction and general oversight of all product/service areas.