Skip to content
Law Society of Scotland
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
  • For members

    • For members

    • CPD & Training

    • Membership and fees

    • Rules and guidance

    • Regulation and compliance

    • Journal

    • Business support

    • Career growth

    • Member benefits

    • Professional support

    • Lawscot Wellbeing

    • Lawscot Sustainability

  • News and events

    • News and events

    • Law Society news

    • Blogs & opinions

    • CPD & Training

    • Events

  • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying as a Scottish solicitor

    • Career support and advice

    • Our work with schools

    • Lawscot Foundation

    • Funding your education

    • Social mobility

  • Research and policy

    • Research and policy

    • Research

    • Influencing the law and policy

    • Equality and diversity

    • Our international work

    • Legal Services Review

    • Meet the Policy team

  • For the public

    • For the public

    • What solicitors can do for you

    • Making a complaint

    • Client protection

    • Find a Solicitor

    • Frequently asked questions

    • Your Scottish solicitor

  • About us

    • About us

    • Contact us

    • Who we are

    • Our strategy, reports and plans

    • Help and advice

    • Our standards

    • Work with us

    • Our logo and branding

    • Equality and diversity

  1. Home
  2. News and events
  3. Blogs & opinions
  4. The red flags to watch for in phishing emails

The red flags to watch for in phishing emails Cyber Scotland Week 2023

27th February 2023 | Professional support

As part of this year's Cyber Scotland Week, the team at ur strategic partner Mitigo share the red flags to watch for in phishing emails.

Today marks the first day of Cyber Scotland Week. Our strategic partner, Mitigo, are sharing helpful advice and guidance throughout the week. First up, they are sharing a round-up of your main red flags if you do receive a phish: 

  • If the email seems too good to be true, or seems suspicious – it probably is. Trust your intuition.
  • Criminals will often add a sense of urgency to their phishing campaigns – the language will push for you to react quickly before deadline.
  • The email may be requesting money or sensitive information such as credentials – official sources will never ask you to supply these via email so don’t give them out.
  • Criminals pretend to be a figure of authority or reputable company to gain your trust. Hint: don’t trust them.
  • Poor grammar or spelling may be the most obvious red flag – if it’s badly written, it’s bad news.
  • Suspicious links or attachments may be included. Don’t click – you can see what the real website is by hovering over the URL, and don’t open any attachments unless you are absolutely sure they are legitimate.
  • The email address used is public domain or misspelt – an official source would never have a normal gmail account associated, and double check that it’s not from something like “Microsuft” instead of Microsoft.
  • Whilst you’re looking at the email address, does it match the sender’s name or the company they’re purporting to be from? If not, you’ve probably caught a phish.
  • The final red flag would be threatening language – aka “Do this or else”. No reputable company would speak to their customers like this – if your back’s up, it’s probably for good reason.

If you’re still not sure, it’s best to verify independently of the original source – so if you’ve got an email, give the person or company a phone call to see if they did send the message. Use the number from their official website, rather than any included in the message.

Never respond or react to the phish – just ignore it and delete it.

For more helpful cybersecurity advice for your firm, visit Mitigo's website.

Mitigo

Mitigo offers solutions to keep your company cyber secure and GDPR security compliant

Read more about Mitigo
Add To Favorites

Additional

Categories

  • Equality and diversity
  • opinion
  • practice management
  • law society of scotland
  • executries
  • tax
  • mental health-adult incapacity
  • trusts-asset management
  • employment
  • europe
  • civil litigation
  • professional regulation
  • family-child law
  • criminal law
  • information technology
  • careers
  • reparation
  • human rights
  • property (non-commercial)
  • consumer
  • licensing
  • commercial property
  • planning/environment
  • insolvency
  • immigration
  • government-administration
  • welfare/benefits
  • client relations
  • education-training
  • interview
  • dispute resolution
  • corporate
  • agriculture-crofting
  • reviews
  • banking-financial services
  • intellectual property
  • New lawyers
  • Business support
  • Law Society news
  • Non-regulatory committees
  • Regulatory Committee
  • Career growth
  • International
  • Schools
  • Wellbeing
  • Member benefits
  • Professional support
  • Research and policy
  • In-house lawyers
  • Regulation
  • For the public
  • Legal aid
  • obituary
  • Public Policy Committee
  • Sustainability
  • Professional support
  • Wellbeing

News Archive

  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008

Related articles

  • AML Spotlight: Regulation 39 - Reliance
  • Stress: listening for lightbulb moments
  • Women in Law Scotland is back!
  • Supporting employees through hidden struggles: Why addiction awareness in the workplace matters
Law Society of Scotland
Atria One, 144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh
EH3 8EX
If you’re looking for a solicitor, visit FindaSolicitor.scot
T: +44(0) 131 226 7411
E: lawscot@lawscot.org.uk
About us
  • Contact us
  • Who we are
  • Strategy reports plans
  • Help and advice
  • Our standards
  • Work with us
Useful links
  • Find a Solicitor
  • Sign in
  • CPD & Training
  • Rules and guidance
  • Website terms and conditions
Law Society of Scotland | © 2025
Made by Gecko Agency Limited