In our increasingly digital world, email security is more important than ever. Phishing attempts and junk mail can be more than just annoyances; they can pose serious security threats. Fortunately, Microsoft Outlook includes built-in tools to combat these issues: the ‘Report Phishing’ and ‘Junk’ buttons. In this post, we’ll guide you through the steps to use these features effectively.
Understanding Phishing and Junk Mail
What is Phishing? Phishing is a type of online scam where fraudsters send emails that appear to be from reputable sources to steal sensitive information like passwords and credit card numbers.
What is Junk Mail? Junk mail, or spam, refers to unsolicited and often irrelevant emails sent in bulk to a large number of recipients.
How to Use the ‘Report Email’ Feature in Outlook
Determine if its Phishing or Junk: Look for signs of phishing, such as misspellings, odd email addresses, and requests for personal information.
Reporting a Email:
- Select the suspicious email.
- Click on the Report Email button in the top menu of your Outlook window. This can look different depending on your version of Outlook.
- Select ‘Phishing’ or “Junk” from the dropdown options. This action informs Microsoft of the email and helps improve email security or junk filters.
Web or “New” Outlook
Classic Outlook button along the top
Benefits of Reporting Phishing and Junk Mail
- Enhanced Security: Reporting helps Microsoft to update its email filtering algorithms, improving security for all users.
- Cleaner Inbox: Regularly marking emails as junk keeps your inbox free of clutter.
- Community Benefit: Your reports contribute to a safer email environment for the Outlook community.
- Quicker self service response
Also by successfully reporting a training phish email, your success will be recorded and you’ll be notified by this rather spiffing email from DeeDee.
If you cannot find the button it may need to be enabled or added to your account. If we can help with this please feel free to get in touch.
