All about Phishing

Hackers use Phishing to gain access to your personal and account information, by pretending to be someone you know and trust.


Examples of Catholic University Phishing attempts 

Illustration of a man fishing, meant to reflect that phishing is a play on the word fishing

What is Phishing and how does it work?

Phishing scams are fraudulent communications, which appear to come from a legitimate source, such as a co-worker, manager, service provider, or bank. The most frequent goal of this scam is to extract private information, such as account credentials, or to achieve some type of financial gain.

Why should I be concerned about phishing?

A malicious individual could:

What are common indicators of phishing attempts, according to the U.S. government (CISA)?

What can I do to protect myself?

Carefully review messages (email, chat, text) you receive, especially if:

Closely inspect emails that come into your inbox from users outside CatholicU by examining the headers of the email in Gmail or sending them to us if you think they are suspicious. 

How to Analyze an email header in Gmail:


Trust your instincts! If it seems wrong, it probably is.

Security tips for preventing phishing and other malware attacks

What to do when I fall victim to phishing?


For victims of scams who have experienced financial or personal information theft:

Catholic University Phishing Attempts

See examples of phishing email messages that have been received by the Catholic University community.

Note: Please log on with your Cardinal Credentials to view the page.

Test your Phishing knowledge

Can you spot the Phish? - Give it a try!

https://www.opendns.com/phishing-quiz/

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/media/game-0011-phishing-scams

Find out how phish-prone you are by visiting Phishing.org 

https://www.phishing.org/how-phish-prone-are-you 

What can I do to protect University data?

Please visit our Security and Privacy resource page on technology.catholic.edu.