Table of Contents
As phishing attacks grow more sophisticated, the holiday season brings heightened risks, especially for educators and students balancing busy schedules and end-of-year tasks. This guide unpacks key strategies to identify and avoid common phishing tactics, from recognizing suspicious language and unexpected requests to spotting spoofed senders and holiday-themed scams. Readers will gain practical tips to protect personal and institutional data, fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness that transcends the festive chaos. Additionally, understanding the characteristics of a phishing attack, such as inconsistencies in email addresses and deceptive tactics, is crucial during this period.
1. Urgent Demands and High-Stakes Language
Phishing emails often create a false sense of urgency to make recipients act quickly without thinking. This tactic is especially effective during the holidays, a time when teachers, students, and administrators are already busy with end-of-term activities and personal plans. Attackers rely on urgency to bypass normal caution, sending messages with subject lines like “URGENT: Password Reset Required” or “Immediate Action Needed on Student Records”.
Teachers might receive fake emails claiming their access to grade submission portals is expiring, while administrators could be tricked by supposed warnings about school account breaches. For students, scammers often send urgent notices about financial aid or scholarship deadlines.
To counter this, it’s critical to teach everyone in the school community to pause before responding to any email that demands immediate action. Encourage staff and students to verify suspicious emails by contacting the sender through known channels, like a direct phone number or the official school website.
Additionally, schools can implement automated systems that flag emails with aggressive language or multiple exclamation points. Awareness sessions featuring real-world examples of urgent phishing scams can also help build vigilance among educators and students alike. When in doubt, waiting and verifying is always safer than clicking and regretting.
This approach turns a common phishing tactic into a teachable moment, empowering everyone to think critically about what lands in their inbox.
2. Unexpected Messages and Requests
Phishing messages often catch people off guard by mimicking unexpected but seemingly legitimate communications. For instance, during the holiday season, teachers might receive emails about unplanned order confirmations for classroom supplies, while students could see unexpected requests for “scholarship applications” or “final project files.” Administrators are frequent targets of fake invoice or vendor requests.
The tactic relies on making recipients question their memory rather than the email’s legitimacy. Scammers bank on the chaos of the holidays to make you think, “Maybe I did forget to order that,” or, “I must have missed this request.”
A good habit is to scrutinize anything unanticipated. Teachers, for example, should double-check with colleagues if an email references a shared task. Students can be taught to verify any scholarship or financial aid email with their school’s official website before acting.
For administrators, unexpected emails related to vendor payments or policy changes should raise red flags, especially if they demand immediate action. Encouraging a culture of “confirm first” within schools can dramatically reduce phishing success rates. Always ask: “Was I expecting this email?” If the answer is no, it’s worth taking extra steps to confirm its authenticity.
These quick checks don’t take much time but can stop phishing attacks in their tracks, especially during the busy holiday season when unexpected messages are even more common.
3. Grammar, Spelling, and Formatting Errors
Phishing emails often include noticeable grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or odd formatting. These errors are common because many phishing attempts are created quickly or by scammers who may not have strong language skills. For example, an email might read: “Your acc0unt has been compr0mised, click hear to resolve it.” The misspellings and unusual word choices are giveaways.
Students, teachers, and administrators might not immediately notice these errors during the rush of the holiday season, but they’re reliable signs of a scam. Messages with strange capitalization, excessive punctuation, or overly casual language should also raise suspicions. Legitimate emails from professional organizations rarely contain these types of mistakes.
One practical way to combat this is by teaching everyone to take a quick “scan test” before engaging with an email. Does the email’s tone sound professional? Are there weird phrases or odd layouts? If yes, that’s a clue to proceed cautiously.
For example, school administrators might see phishing emails impersonating IT departments but with awkward sentences like, “IT urgently require you to update ur details.” Similarly, students could receive emails about “excluzive holiday gift cards” filled with typos.
By slowing down and recognizing these inconsistencies, staff and students can avoid falling for scams. Simple training sessions that highlight these common errors help reinforce this habit, making it easier to spot phishing attempts before they cause damage.
4. Holiday-Specific Themes
Phishing scams spike during the holiday season, often disguised as festive emails to exploit the goodwill and busyness of the time. Common examples include fake shipping notifications, holiday promotions, gift card offers, or eCards. These emails appear to align with normal holiday activities but are designed to trick recipients into clicking malicious links or downloading harmful attachments.
For teachers, these might look like offers for discounted classroom supplies or urgent notifications about delayed shipments. Students could be lured by emails advertising too-good-to-be-true deals on popular gadgets or holiday giveaways. Administrators are often targeted with fake charity donation requests, impersonating well-known organizations. It’s crucial to verify the sender’s domain to ensure communications are from legitimate companies.
The best defense is awareness. Schools can host holiday-specific cybersecurity workshops to show real-life examples of these scams. Encourage everyone to check for signs like generic greetings (“Dear Customer”) or requests for sensitive information under the guise of a seasonal deal.
Additionally, IT departments can warn staff and students to be extra cautious with unexpected holiday-themed emails, particularly those that involve tracking links or QR codes for supposed deliveries. A simple policy of “don’t click, verify first” goes a long way in stopping these scams.
By understanding how phishing evolves during the holidays, teachers, students, and administrators can be better prepared to spot these seasonal tricks and stay safe online.
5. Unfamiliar or Spoofed Senders in Phishing Emails
Phishing emails often come from email addresses that look legitimate but have small, easy-to-miss differences. For example, a scammer might use “support@school-admin.com” instead of the official “support@school.edu.” These spoofed addresses can trick teachers, students, and administrators into thinking the email is authentic.
Teachers might encounter emails pretending to be from a principal or department head, requesting sensitive information or approval for fake tasks. Students could receive emails from what appear to be classmates or professors, asking them to click links to “shared documents.” For administrators, scammers often impersonate trusted vendors or partners, making it harder to spot fake requests.
A simple habit to build is hovering over the sender’s email address to reveal the full address. If the domain doesn’t match the official organization’s domain, it’s a red flag. Schools can also enforce policies to flag external emails with a warning banner, reminding recipients to exercise caution when the sender isn’t from a trusted domain.
Regular training that teaches staff and students how to identify spoofed email addresses can significantly reduce risks. Pairing this with a protocol for reporting suspicious emails ensures that any potential threat is quickly addressed and others are warned about similar attacks.
By staying alert to the small details in email addresses, the school community can better defend against phishing attempts. These proactive steps can make spotting spoofed senders much
6. Suspicious Links and Attachments in Phishing Emails
Phishing emails often include links or suspicious attachments designed to steal credentials or deliver malware. These links may lead to fake login pages that collect usernames and passwords or sites that download malicious software. Attachments can also contain hidden threats, such as executable files disguised as harmless documents.
During the holidays, scammers frequently target teachers with fake shipment notifications containing tracking links. Students may receive emails with attachments claiming to be “holiday party invites” or “event tickets.” Administrators often encounter phishing emails masquerading as urgent invoices or policy updates.
One quick defense is to always hover over links before clicking to see where they actually lead. If the URL looks suspicious, doesn’t match the email’s sender, or has strange elements like extra subdomains (e.g., “secure-login.fake-site.com”), it’s best to avoid it. Similarly, attachments should only be opened if they come from verified and trusted sources.
Schools should also implement tools that automatically scan attachments and links for threats. For example, enabling email filters to block messages with certain file types—like .exe or .zip files—can reduce risks significantly.
Teaching staff and students to think twice before clicking links or downloading attachments is essential. A simple rule like “verify the sender, trust the link only if it’s expected” can prevent most phishing attacks from succeeding. With these habits, the school community can stay safer online, even during the busiest times of the year.
7. Mismatch Between Email Content and Known Behavior in Phishing Attempts
Phishing emails often contain requests or information that don’t align with how legitimate organizations typically operate. For example, no reputable school system or vendor will ask for sensitive details, like login credentials or financial information, through email. During the holidays, scammers exploit the season by sending fake requests for urgent payments or donations. No reputable organization will ask for sensitive details like account numbers through email.
Teachers might receive emails pretending to be from school accounts, asking them to reset passwords via unverified links. Students could encounter emails claiming they’ve won holiday scholarships but requiring a fee to claim the prize. Administrators are common targets for fake “vendor payment” scams, where fraudsters impersonate trusted suppliers.
A good rule of thumb is to question any unusual request that feels out of place. Did the sender ask for something they’ve never asked for before? Is the method of communication strange? For example, if a supposed IT department email is asking for passwords, it’s likely fake, as IT teams don’t request credentials via email.
To address this, schools can provide clear guidelines about how sensitive processes like donations, payments, or password resets are handled. Any deviation from these norms should immediately raise suspicion.
Encourage staff and students to double-check unexpected requests by contacting the sender directly, using official communication methods. When email behavior doesn’t match what’s normal, it’s often a sign of a phishing attempt.
Surf Wisely: Learn, Stay Safe, and Take Action
Phishing emails thrive on human error and oversight, exploiting moments of distraction or trust. By focusing on subtle clues like unexpected requests, grammar inconsistencies, and holiday-themed scams, educators, students, and administrators can guard themselves against threats. These lessons extend beyond inbox vigilance—they build a broader culture of awareness and skepticism crucial for navigating today’s online risks. Especially during the holidays, understanding these tactics can save time, money, and peace of mind. It is essential to identify phishing emails to protect against these threats.
SurfWisely simplifies these challenges through innovative and engaging cybersecurity awareness tools. Using gamified learning, captivating videos, and relatable analogies, the platform demystifies complex concepts. For schools, its student-focused approach ensures that even young learners grasp critical security practices. From interactive scenarios to easy-to-digest lessons, SurfWisely’s approach integrates learning into daily routines, building proactive habits to counter phishing and other cyber risks.
Ready to level up your cybersecurity game? Subscribe to the SurfWisely newsletter for free tips, exclusive resources, and updates. Stay informed, stay safe, and join a community committed to smarter, safer internet use—because every click counts.
More On Ways to Spot Phishing Emails
What is a common way to spot a phishing email?
Look for urgent or unexpected requests, especially for sensitive information. Phishing emails often pressure you to act quickly or impersonate trusted senders. Always verify suspicious emails through official channels.
What is the strongest indicator of a phishing email?
Mismatch between the sender’s email address and their claimed identity. Scammers often use addresses that look legitimate but have slight differences, like extra characters or incorrect domains.
What are the indicators of a phishing email?
Indicators include urgent demands, grammar errors, suspicious links, unfamiliar senders, or messages unrelated to typical behavior, like asking for passwords or payments through email.
How can phishing emails be spotted?
Pause before clicking. Check sender info, scan for errors, verify links, and question unusual requests. If it feels off, confirm directly with the sender or use known contact methods.
