Phishing e-mails are bogus messages carefully designed to look like a legitimate message (or attached file) from a site or person you trust. Their goal is getting you to willingly give up your login info or unknowingly click a link to install a virus. The best of these e-mails look uncannily similar to their real-world counterparts, but there are ways to discern a phishing attempt from a legitimate e-mail.
Hover over — but don’t click on — the URL in the e-mail to see the actual website you will be directed to. If there is a mismatched or suspicious URL, delete the e-mail immediately.
Other telltale signs are poor grammar or spelling errors. And if the e-mail asks you to verify or validate your login or personal information, get out of there.