14 October 2022

Phishing (pronounced: fishing) is an attack that attempts to steal your money, or your identity, by getting you to reveal personal information — such as credit card numbers, bank information, or passwords — on websites that pretend to be legitimate. Cybercriminals typically pretend to be reputable companies, friends, or acquaintances in a fake message, which contains a link to a phishing website.

In recent developments, Australian telecom giant Optus said that nearly 2.1 million of its customers suffered a leak of their personal information during the data breach the company suffered late last month.

In addition to the Optus breach, there have been a lot of schools all over Australia that have been subjected to financial fraud by way of Phishing through emails. 

Students and staff receive emails which at first glance seem to be from within the school but are actually phishing for personal information such as banking details. An example of such an email can be seen below.

As a result of these emails, we urge parents, students, and AIC staff to be watchful of whom they are receiving such emails from.

A good way to protect yourself from Email Phishing is to follow the instructions provided by Microsoft in the below article in order to protect yourself from such fraudulent advances.

For more information, please visit: Protect yourself from Phishing