As the public profile of our organisation grows, it will increasingly become the target of email attacks. These attacks should be reported to IT using the Report Message option in Outlook.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Types of messages, and what to do


  • Spam — Spam, or Junk Mail, are messages that you don't want to receive that may be advertising products or services you don't use or find offensive. Use the Report Message option in Outlook and select Junk.
  • Phishing — Phishing messages attempt to get you to disclose personal information such as financial details, passwords, and other information. These emails typically are made to look legitimate but have links or attachments that can cause harm. Use the Report Message option in Outlook and select Phishing.
  • False-Positives — Legitimate messages that Outlook puts in your "Junk Mail" folder are messages that Outlook incorrectly identifies as Junk. Use the Report Message option in Outlook and select Not Junk.
  • Third-Party Reports — Messages from clients, customers, partners, etc. that are reporting that we may have sent a Spam or Phishing message should be forwarded to Helpdesk (helpdesk@outra.co.uk). Don't use the Report Message option because the emails themselves are not spam but rather are reports of spam.
  • Other Messages — If you're still unsure, forward to Helpdesk (helpdesk@outra.co.uk) by using the Forward as Attachment option in Outlook. Don't just forward the message as it won't contain enough information for IT to act on.


Use the Report Message option in Outlook

Outlook has an option to report spam, phishing, or false-positives directly to IT. Don't forward these messages to IT, use Report Message.


To use this feature, 


  1. Select the email in the message list
  2. On the main Outlook ribbon, select Report Message and pick Junk, Phishing, or Not Junk
  3. When prompted to report to Microsoft, click Report (IT will hear about it either way, but this will help improve Outlook's early detection)


When you select Junk, Phishing, or Not Junk, you'll be prompted to confirm you would like to report the message to Microsoft. Click Report, as this will help improve spam and phishing detection overall. (If you select Don't report, IT will still hear about it but the report will be less effective.)


Microsoft has an article describing this feature in more detail, here: https://support.microsoft.com/office/b5caa9f1-cdf3-4443-af8c-ff724ea719d2


If you use Outlook on the web, the icon may simply say "Junk." This will also prompt you to report to Microsoft. Please do click Report. 


Forward a message as an attachment

If you're unable to use the Report Message option, you can forward suspicious messages to Helpdesk. But, the only way for these reports to be actionable, is to use Forward as Attachment. (Do not simply Forward as this will remove important information from the message.)


  1. Select the email in the message list
  2. On the main Outlook Ribbon, select More > Forward as Attachment
  3. Address the email to helpdesk@outra.co.uk and describe your concern in the body of the email (it will be helpful to know why you're unsure if Report Message is right to use)
  4. Click Send


Submit a Third-Party report

If a client, customer, partner, etc. reports that they may have received spam or phishing emails from what appears to be heylo, Outra, etc., you should forward this as usual to helpdesk@outra.co.uk. Do not use Report Message as this will incorrectly identify a legitimate email.


If you're at heylo, CC Marcos Perona (mperona@heylohousing.com) on this report.