Recently, there has been a large increase in the number of scam emails targeting NHS organisations - including recent local examples such as the one pictured below.
Cyber crime groups are becoming increasingly more sophisticated - with email scams (like the one above) being made to look like they are being sent from a trusted source when they are actually being sent from a fake address - known as ‘email spoofing’.
What should you do?
- If you receive an email that is unexpected or suspicious, do not open any links or attachments.
- Report it to your IT Service Desk and then delete it.
- Never respond to it or forward it on to anyone else.
Be email aware
- Be suspicious of generic greetings such as "Dear sir or madam".
- Check the sender’s email address to see if it looks legitimate.
- Never open links or attachments from senders you don’t recognise.
- Check the address of any links by hovering your mouse over the link (without opening it) to see if the address matches the link that was typed in the message.
- Check for spelling mistakes and poor grammar which could indicate the email is a scam.
- Be suspicious of emails that claim you must click, call, or open an attachment immediately.
- Never provide financial or sensitive personal information like usernames and passwords over email.