Spam, Phishing & Malware

Success Criteria for Digital Citizenship Badge

  • Define Spam, Phishing & Malware

  • Identify how to protect against Spam, Phishing & Malware

Presentation & Lesson Plan on Spam, Phishing and Malware

Online Scams Presentation

Presentation & Activities

This presentation contains all of the material, videos and activities in the lesson plan.

Lesson for Spam Phishing Malware.docx

Lesson Plan

This is a suggested lesson plan on Spam, Phishing & Malware.

Spam

Definition

  • Spam is any kind of unsolicited and unwanted communication online. Mostly by email.

  • Spam email can be people or companies trying to sell to us, phishing emails, malware or advance fee scams.

Phishing Emails

Definition

Phishing emails trick the person who receives it into giving them sensitive information or money eg. logins, credit card details, payment etc. Common ploys are:

  • Requesting payment for an outstanding fee.

  • Requesting to reset your password or verify your account.

  • Asking to verify a purchase you haven’t made.

  • Contain familiar brand/logos & content.

  • It needs your urgent attention and action so you don’t get time to look closely to see the links etc.

  • Asking to update billing information. Eg. during lockdown there was an email scam that your Netflix account was locked and needed an urgent payment update.

Malware & Malspam

Definition

  • Malware is software that is created to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.

  • An email will contain a link or attachment and the content of the email will trick the recipient into opening the link or downloading the attachment. When the link is opened or the attachment downloaded it runs a hidden code to access, damage or disrupt your computer system.

  • Never open emails, links or attachments from unknown sources.

  • Even if you know the source, if you are suspicious of the content or it is unsolicited check with the sender first.

Preventing Spam

How you can prevent spam:

  • Do not reply to spam emails.

  • Turn on the spam filter.

  • Install cybersecurity.

  • If you’re unsure type in the official website address in the address bar and access the link from there. E.g. if it’s Paypal go their official website and access your account there.

  • Learn how to spot spam email - detailed in next section.

How to spot spam emails

Ways to spot spam emails:

  • Senders address is not correct - check this very carefully against official address information.

  • The sender does not know your name, they use friend or your email address.

  • Typos and bad grammar.

  • There are attachments.

  • Links in the email look suspicious (you can see these by just hovering over them with the mouse button)

  • The offer in the email is too good to be true. Asking you to give a small amount of money to receive a large sum in return (this is an advance fee scam). If it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

Activity - Can you spot anything suspicious about these emails?

Email 1

Email 2

Video about Staying Safe from Phishing & Scams Online

Reflection:

Was there anything new in the Video that

you learned or found interesting?

Groupwork

Split into 2 groups:

  • Group 1 Research online for the most recent Phishing Scams.

  • Group 2 Research online for the most recent Malware.

  • Feedback to the class about what you’ve found.


(Try checking CitizensInformation.ie for the most recent scams online)

Wordwall Quiz

Conclusion

To Protect yourself online always:

  • Know who you are dealing with - it is a legitimate business or site.

  • Be alert for suspicious behaviour - if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

  • Protect your personal information - it is valuable and can be misused by criminals.

  • Protect your money- use trusted websites & a secure payment method like credit card or payment services like PayPal that offer a payment protection scheme BUT only on trusted websites.

Useful Links