Phishing infographic

Urgent

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(JK, it’s an infographic about phishing)

If you have an email address or cellphone number, chances are you’ve received a phishing message. And you’re not alone: phishing is the third most common scam affecting Canadians today.

Phishing is a cyber criminal’s attempt to get sensitive information by pretending to be a legitimate sender like

• government organizations
• streaming services
• banks
• online stores
• phone providers
• people you know

Phishing is very common

1 in 99
emails are a phishing email ^{Footnote 1}

1 in 25
branded emails are phishing ^{Footnote 1}

and very easy to fall for

1 in 10
canadians say they’ve replied to phishing messages unknowingly ^{Footnote 2}

Phishing comes in all shapes and sizes

• smishing
  sms or text messaging
• spear-phishing
  personalized, targeted messages
• whaling
  messages targeted at executives
• spoofing
  forged websites or phone numbers

6.4 billion phishing emails are sent each day ^{Footnote 3}

Don't take the bait

• Read and re-read
  Double-check the message and sender for anything strange
• Don’t click suspicious links
  Don’t’ download unknown files either
• Never share your password
  Never, ever, but especially over email or text

Get Cyber Safe and the RCMP want you to know that it doesn’t hurt to be cautious. If you’re suspicious of a message, call the person or organization using their trusted number to double-check if the message is legit.

Get more tips to protect yourself and your devices at Get Cyber Safe.

If you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, please contact your local police.

It is also essential that you report an instance of a scam, fraud or cybercrime, whether you are a victim or not, to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre via their online fraud reporting system or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.

We have partnered with Get Cyber Safe to offer this valuable information on what phishing is and how to recognize the signs. We thank them for being a dedicated partner in the cyber security of Canadians.

Date modified:

2023-03-27