Phishing is a form of fraud where cybercriminals use emails to trick you into providing personal or sensitive information that can be used for fraudulent purposes. You may be asked to disclose confidential financial and personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, access codes, or tax identification numbers.

Smishing is similar to phishing, except fraudsters will send scam messages through text messages (SMS).

Some phishing and smishing scams try to trick you into downloading malicious software (malware) onto your computer or phone. Fraudsters do this by disguising malware as normal file attachments or as links within emails and text messages.

Once downloaded, malware can delete, corrupt, or encrypt (lock) your files, steal sensitive personal or financial data, or, in rare cases, damage hardware.

Visit our Cybersecurity & Fraud Hub to find out more about how to protect yourself from phishing and smishing scams.