As a reminder DO NOT fall for phishing and spam email regarding your email account being full, your password needing to be confirmed or the similar. Your password will not be requested over email.
Here are a few things you can look for to spot phishing (as in fishing for your information) email.
- LOOK AT THE FROM ADDRESS: Insure that the email address is from the sender you are expecting if there is an attachment or link to click.
- If your mailbox quota is actually reaching its limit you WILL get an automated email from our mail system, but all you need to do is cleanup some of your email. This will involve deleting emails with attachments, old email, sent mail, and finally emptying your deleted mail folder.
- LOOK AT THE REPLY TO ADDRESS: IF it is from a COS email address it will have @shreveportla.gov address. NOT DOT COM, DOT ORG etc.
- LOOK AT THE BODY: If you're being asked to do something urgently without verification, it's likely phishing.
- As a rule you should NEVER click a link included in an email (this includes your personal email accounts). It is much better to open a web browser and go the site by typing the address.
- LOOK AT THE SIGNATURE BLOCK: There have been messages that contained a copy write symbol or all rights reserved, you can disregard this type of email message.
I hope this helps you distinguish the fake email that has landing in your inbox from the legitimate email you may receive. Be especially wary of email asking you to give out sensitive information like account credentials to any important site like your bank, network, email, etc. Emails requesting direct deposit change, gift cards, etc. For more information on how to spot phishing and spam emails click here https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams.