1. 1    From

• I don’t recognize the sender’s email address as someone I ordinarily communicate with.
• The email is from someone outside my organization and it’s not related to my job responsibilities.
• This email was sent from someone inside the organization or from a customer, vendor, or partner and is very unusual or out of character.
• Is the sender’s email address from a suspicious domain (like micorsoft-support.com)?
• This is an unexpected or unusual email with an embedded hyperlink or an attachment from someone I haven’t communicated with recently.

1. 2    To

• I was cc’d on an email sent to one or more people, but I don’t personally know the other people it was sent to.
• I received an email that was also sent to an unusual mix of people.

1. 3    Hyperlinks

• I hover my mouse over a hyperlink that’s displayed in the email message, but the link-to address is for a different website. (This is a big red flag.)
• I received an email that only has long hyperlinks with no further information, and the rest of the email is completely blank.
• I received an email with a hyperlink that is a misspelling of a known web site. For instance, www.acheivacu.com — the correct spelling is “achievacu.com.”

1. 4    Date

• Did I receive an email that I normally would get during regular business hours, but it was sent at an unusual time like 3 a.m.?

1. 5    Subject

• Did I get an email with a subject line that is irrelevant or does not match the message content?
• Is the email message a reply to something I never sent or requested?

1. 6    Attachments

• The sender included an email attachment that I was not expecting or that makes no sense in relation to the email message. (This sender doesn’t ordinarily send me this type of attachment.)
• I see an attachment with a possibly dangerous file type.

1. 7    Content

• Is the sender asking me to click on a link or open an attachment to avoid a negative consequence or to gain something of value?
• Is the email out of the ordinary, or does it have bad grammar or spelling errors?
• Is the sender asking me to click a link or open up an attachment that seems odd or illogical?
• Do I have an uncomfortable gut feeling about the sender’s request to open an attachment or click a link?