# Spotting a malicious message: the signs that still hold

URL : https://skillrung.com/en/courses/cybersecurity/spotting-a-trap-message
Topic: Cybersecurity · Duration: 25-30 min · Updated on 2026-09-15

## In brief

A fraudulent message is no longer given away by its mistakes: it is correctly written and quotes accurate details. What betrays it lies in what it asks for — an urgency that nothing justifies, a login, a payment, an unexpected attachment. The channel changes, text message, phone call or code to scan, the mechanism stays the same. The defence never depends on the message: call back on a number you already knew.

## Programme

- 1. Why a malicious message still gets through : Understand what makes a fraudulent message credible today
- 2. Spotting a malicious message : Identify the signs of a fraudulent message and verify through another channel
- 3. Your action plan : Leave with three habits you can apply to your messages

1 content sections, each with its quiz. Three level quizzes: Beginner, Intermediate, Expert.

## Free preview (first 4 slides)

### 1. The most dangerous message looks just like yours

It arrives at the right moment, with the right vocabulary, and quotes an accurate detail about your structure. Nothing jars: not the language, not the layout, not the name on display. What can still be spotted is what it asks you to do, and the speed at which it asks.

### 2. What you will be able to do by the end

- Read the six signs of a malicious message
- Recognise a fraud by text message, phone call or code to scan
- Verify through a route the sender does not control

### 3. What a malicious message always ends up asking for

Four requests, and any one of them justifies a check.
- An urgency that nothing justifies, with a short deadline
- A login, a password or a code received by text message
- A payment, a transfer or a change of bank details
- Opening an attachment you were not expecting

### 4. Where do you stand?

One question to place your reflexes, with no score and no judgement. Answer before you carry on.
_Self-assessment of 1 questions in the player._

## Access

The first four slides of every course and the Beginner-level quiz are free, with no account. From the fifth slide onwards a subscription is required: €29.99/month incl. VAT, no commitment, cancellable online. skillrung is not a French training body certified under the Qualiopi scheme; its content is not eligible for the French CPF, OPCO or DPC schemes.

## Frequently asked questions

### Are spelling mistakes no longer enough to spot a fraud?

No, and relying on them has become dangerous. The messages going round today are correctly written and borrow the vocabulary of your job. Looking for the mistake amounts to trusting every impeccable message, which is exactly the effect being sought.

### What should I do if I have already clicked on a suspicious link?

Do not keep the information to yourself. If you entered a password, change it immediately on the service concerned and everywhere it was reused, then switch on a second factor. Then tell your manager or your IT provider, even if nothing seems to have happened.

### Does this course cover text messages and phone calls too?

Yes. A whole section covers the channels beyond email: the text message announcing a held parcel, the call claiming to be IT support, the code to scan stuck over the official sticker on a terminal.

## Sources

- Rapport d'activité et état de la menace 2025 : Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, 2026-03-26, https://www.cybermalveillance.gouv.fr/tous-nos-contenus/actualites/rapport-activite-2025