What is the Difference between Spam and Phishing?

What is Junk (aka Spam) email?

Junk email, also known as spam, is unsolicited email, usually commercial. It can strain networks, clog email servers, and fill mailboxes with unwanted and possibly offensive messages and images. Most of it is annoying, but harmless. Most junk email will be blocked by the email server that hosts your account.

Spam Example (Red Flags are underlined)


What is Phishing?

Phishing is a specific kind of junk email that's used to obtain private information for use in identity theft and other scams. The email message appears to come from a trusted source, such as your bank, and often includes the actual business logo and an apparently legitimate reply address.

For more information about how to identify phishing email messages and how to protect yourself from them, see Email and web scams: How to help protect yourself.

Phishing Example (Red Flags are underlined)

Details

Article ID: 42559
Created
Wed 11/15/17 10:46 AM
Modified
Mon 7/11/22 3:54 PM