Email SPAM and PHISHING attacks are two of the most common and dangerous threats that users face online.
Spam emails are unsolicited messages that are typically sent in bulk and contain commercial or misleading information.
Phishing emails, on the other hand, are targeted scams that aim to trick users into revealing personal or sensitive information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, or bank account details. Phishing emails often impersonate legitimate companies, organizations, or individuals and use various techniques to lure users into clicking on malicious links, opening infected attachments, or responding with confidential data.
How to report email spam and phishing attacks from a Microsoft email account.
When using a Microsoft email account, such as Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, or Live.com, you can report spam and phishing emails easily and help protect yourself and others from these threats. Reporting spam and phishing emails helps Microsoft improve its spam filters and block malicious senders. Here are the steps to report spam and phishing emails from a Microsoft email account:
- To report an email as spam, select the email you want to report and click on the Junk icon in the toolbar. Alternatively, you can right-click on the email and select Junk > Block.
- To report an email as phishing, select the email you want to report and click on the Report Message icon in the toolbar. Alternatively, you can right-click on the email and select Report Message > Phishing. You can also use the Report Phishing add-in if you have it installed.
- To report an email as a scam or fraud, select the email you want to report and click on the Report Message icon in the toolbar. Alternatively, you can right-click on the email and select Report Message > Scam or Fraud.
How to report email spam and phishing attacks from webmail using KartHost KloudEmail (Basic & Suite) or KartHost Hosted Exchange
Users of KartHost KloudEmail webmail services, you can report spam and phishing emails to improve the security of your email account and protect yourself from future attacks. When you report these emails, you are also helping Rackspace and AppRiver, the providers of KartHost KloudEmail, to enhance their security features. To report spam and phishing emails from webmail, you need to follow these steps. Note that this method only works for webmail users of KloudEmail (Basic & Suite) or KartHost KloudEmail Hosted Exchange. If you use other email clients, your reports will not be forwarded to the Spam Teams.
To report an email as spam, first log into your account via webmail at KloudEmail Basic/Suite :
- Select the email you want to report and
- click on the More icon in the toolbar.
- Then select Report Spam from the dropdown menu.
- You can also drag and drop the email to the Spam folder.
To report an email as spam or phishing log into OWA at KloudEmail Hosted Exchange.
- Select the email you want to report and
- Click on the Junk in the toolbar.
- Then, select Junk from the dropdown menu.
- Or you can right-click on the selected email and select “Mark as Junk” from the dropdown menu.
How reporting them helps others.
Reporting spam and phishing emails is not only beneficial for your own security, but also for others who might receive similar emails in the future. By reporting these emails, you help your email service provider improve its detection and filtering capabilities, and reduce the chances of these emails reaching your inbox or other users’ inboxes. You also help authorities track down and stop cybercriminals who are behind these attacks and prevent them from harming more victims.
What are the current statistics on spam and phishing attacks?
Spam and phishing attacks are constantly evolving and increasing in frequency and sophistication. According to some of the latest statistics from Bitdefender Threat Map, as seen above,(https://threatmap.bitdefender.com/)
and Kaspersky Cybermap (https://cybermap.kaspersky.com/), some of the key findings are:
- In September 2021, Bitdefender detected over 1.2 billion malware attacks worldwide, with US, India, Brazil, Russia, and China being among the top affected countries.
- In September 2021, Bitdefender detected over 3 million ransomware attacks worldwide, with US, India, Brazil, Russia, and China being among the top affected countries.
- In September 2021, Bitdefender detected over 2 million phishing attacks worldwide, with US, India, Brazil, Russia, and China being among the top affected countries.
- In September 2021, Kaspersky detected over 1.5 billion cyberattacks worldwide, with US, Russia, China, Germany, and France being among the top affected countries.
- In September 2021, Kaspersky detected over 1.3 billion web attacks worldwide, with US, Russia, China, Germany, and France being among the top affected countries.
- In September 2021, Kaspersky detected over 200 million phishing attacks worldwide, with US, Russia, China, Germany, and France being among the top affected countries.
- These statistics show that spam and phishing attacks are a serious and widespread threat affecting millions of users and organizations daily. Therefore, it is important to be vigilant and report any suspicious emails that you receive and to use reliable security software and tools to protect your devices and data from these attacks.
If you want to learn more about spam and phishing attacks and how to prevent them, you can visit some of these links:
- FBI – How to Protect Yourself from Phishing: This page provides some tips on how to identify and avoid phishing emails or text messages that try to trick you into giving your personal and financial information to scammers. It also tells you how to report spoofing or phishing attempts to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
- FTC – How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams: This page explains how phishing scams work and how they can harm your business. It also gives you four ways to protect yourself from phishing attacks, such as checking the email address, URL, and spelling of any message you receive, and talking to someone before clicking on a link or sharing any sensitive information.
- GeeksforGeeks – Phishing Attack: This page describes what phishing is and what are the types of phishing attacks, such as spear phishing, clone phishing, catphishing, voice phishing, and SMS phishing. It also shows some examples of phishing emails and how to spot them.
- Mimecast – Phishing Attack Statistics: This page provides some facts and figures about phishing attacks and how they affect businesses and individuals. It also offers some tips on how to protect yourself from phishing scams and how to use Mimecast’s email security solutions.
- Tessian – The State of Phishing in 2022: This page presents the results of a survey conducted by Tessian on the current trends and challenges of email security in 2022. It reveals how frequent and successful phishing attacks are, what types of phishing techniques are used, and what are the consequences of falling victim to phishing.
- Microsoft – Protect yourself from phishing: This page explains what phishing is and how to spot a phishing email or website. It also provides some best practices on how to avoid phishing scams and how to report them to Microsoft.
- Microsoft – How Outlook processes phishing messages: This page describes how Outlook uses Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) indicators to identify and mark suspicious emails. It also shows how to use the built-in Report button or the Report Message and Report Phishing add-ins in Outlook to report phishing emails to Microsoft.
- TechRepublic – How to spot a phishing email: This page gives 10 tips on how to recognize a phishing email based on the URL, domain name, spelling, grammar, content, and offer. It also advises users to verify any request for personal information or money that is received via email.
- Microsoft Learn – Identify suspicious messages in Outlook: This page is part of a learning module on how to investigate malicious email that was delivered in Microsoft 365. It teaches users how to use the built-in Report button or the Report Message and Report Phishing add-ins in Outlook to report junk and phishing messages. It also shows how to review reported messages in the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal.
- Rackspace Technology – How to identify phishing emails: This page describes how Rackspace Email Webmail identifies suspicious emails using DMARC and content filtering. It also tells users how to report suspicious emails as spam and how to find more information about phishing emails on their blog.
This blog post writing and research assisted by Bing Chat (Ai).
