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Think before you click and watch out for phishing

Count to ten and be careful before you click on links. That's the first line of defence against phishing mails or text messages.

Phishing is an attempt at identity theft

Fake emails and text messages, known as phishing and smishing, are very common and a favourite weapon when cybercriminals try to steal your identity. Phishing can be hard to spot, and that's why it's important to be vigilant and learn how to spot phishing.

Good advice on phishing

How to spot a phishing attempt

Phishing is not limited to emails. It can also be via text messages, phone calls or through fake profiles on social media or dating apps. But it’s always after the same thing: to get you to reveal personal information. So learn about the characteristics of phishing.

Keep your MitID and passwords to yourself

  • Aarhus University, Nets and other legitimate banks, companies and government authorities will never ask you for your personal passwords, MitID, NemID code card or the like. If you receive a request to provide this kind of information, don’t respond.

Be careful about clicking links in mails and text messages

  • Scammers are good at making mails and text messages look genuine. If you are in doubt, check the official website of the sender.

Look for clues that will unmask a scammer

  • Cybercriminals will try to entice you to click links or open attached files. But there are a number of clues that will reveal these fakes: If you hover the mouse over a link in a mail, you can see where the link will take you if you click it.  Instead of clicking the direct link to the sender’s website, find the official website online and use the search function to see if you can find the same content.

Check the sender

  • If you suspect that the sender of a mail might be a scammer, search the internet and check the email address or telephone to make sure the information is correct. Or you can contact the company or government authority via their official website or telephone number and ask for a confirmation that the communication is genuine.

Count to ten before you click

  • Scammers often try to get you to act quickly. If you get an unsolicited mail or text message, it’s a good idea not to respond immediately: wait until you have time to think twice before you answer.

What to do if you fall for phishing

It happens to more people than you think.

Contact your local IT support team if you have accidentally clicked on a link, opened an attached file in a phishing email or disclosed confidential information, such as your password. 

If you have disclosed confidential information, change your password as soon as possible. Furthermore, activate two-factor authentication wherever possible. 

It’s a good idea to share your experience with others. This will warn others, and we can all learn to be more careful.

Report security breach

What is phishing?

Phishing is an attempt to cheat you into providing conficential data by

  • email (phishing - fishing)
  • SMS (smishing - 'SMS fishing')
  • phone (vishing - short for 'voice phishing', to fish information by using your voice)
Revised 06.02.2026