Managing Spam and Phishing E-mail

Telling the Difference

Spam and phishing e-mails are disruptive and can sometimes be dangerous.

Spam is classified as advertising and comes from legitimate senders.  The types of Spam e-mails received from companies can include flyers, services, newsletters and other product offerings.

Phishing e-mails are malicious in nature and come from illegitimate senders.  They often attempt to have the recipient click on links which may install malware, or attempt to retrieve personal and financial information.  They also might be spoofed and appear to come from a trusted source.

Identifying Spam or Phishing E-mails

To identify these types of e-mails, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is the e-mail domain (the part after the @) correct based on the sender’s company?
  2. When you click Reply to the e-mail, does the address in the To field match the correct sender?
  3. Have you provided this company your e-mail address, subscribed to a newsletter or any other service?

If the answer is Yes to these questions, the message is legitimate.  If you would like to stop receiving these messages, the best course of action is to use the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the e-mail.

If the answer is No, follow the steps below to report and block fraudulent e-mails.

If you are unsure about the legitimacy of the e-mail, send it to help@osgoode.yorku.ca and we will assist you with determining the legitimacy of the e-mail.

Reporting and Deleting Phishing E-mails

Outlook Desktop Client

Report and delete fraudulent e-mails that come into your name@osgoode.yorku.ca inbox.

  1. Click on the e-mail to select it
  2. Click the Report Phishing button on the ribbon of your Outlook client
  3. The message will be reported, and will be removed from your inbox

Outlook on the Web

  1. Open Outlook on the Web
  2. Click on the e-mail to select it
  3. Click Forward
  4. Forward the e-mail to phish@yorku.ca
  5. Click on the e-mail to select it again
  6. Click Junk on the ribbon, and select Phishing

Shared Mailboxes

  1. Click on the e-mail to select it
  2. Click Forward
  3. Forward the e-mail to phish@yorku.ca
  4. Right-click on the e-mail in your Inbox
  5. Click Junk -> Block Sender