This clickbait caught me. For more phishing samples, see my phishy email collection.
I’ve seen several Headline USA pieces recently. I’ve also been in the middle of several heated discussions about 2020 election myths. And so the banner in this email lulled me into letting my guard down. Did the NY Times really print that Dr. Fauci said the coronavirus is not a big deal? I had to click the link to find out.
I should have paid more attention. I’ll give it a B+ because it manipulated me into clicking on the link. Fortunately for me, it was just a clickbait ad with no malicious payload. I’ll paste the clickbait ad below.
Care and share to be prepared. Learn from my mistake. Don’t phall for phishing. Do share lessons you learn. Even the embarrassing ones.
Here is where the link landed. Clickbait engineered to exploit strong feelings.
I’m so paranoid about clicking on a malicious link that I rarely open emails unless it’s from the university or someone I know personally.
Interesting story, once at the university I work at the IT department wanted to educate the university staff about not clicking on dodgy-looking links. They sent the whole university and email (from a dodgy looking email address) with a link in it, and it took them to a page that said “Do not click on suspicious links”. Unfortunately, only one or two people in the IT department knew about the whole thing, and most of the IT department staff also clicked on the link … Yeah …
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
That’s a great story – thanks!