📍 Where you are in the curriculum: Week 4 of 12

Welcome to Unit 2: Recognizing Threats! You've built your foundation — you understand your digital footprint, can evaluate online info critically, and have strong passwords. Now let's learn what attackers actually do to try to break through those defenses.

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What Is Phishing? 🎣

Imagine you're playing your favorite game and suddenly you get a message:

"🎉 Congratulations! You've won 10,000 FREE Robux! Click here to claim your prize!"

Sounds awesome, right? But here's the thing — it's a trap. This is called phishing (pronounced "fishing"), and it's one of the oldest tricks on the internet. The Federal Trade Commission ↗ says it's also one of the most common online scams.

How It Works

Phishing is when someone sends you a fake message pretending to be someone you trust — like a game company, a friend, or even your school. Their goal? To get you to:

• Click a dangerous link
• Give away your password
• Share personal information

Just like real fishing uses bait to catch fish, phishing uses fake messages as bait to catch you.

Why Should You Care?

If you fall for a phishing trick, someone could:

• Steal your gaming accounts (bye-bye, Roblox inventory!)
• Pretend to be you and message your friends
• Access your personal info or even your family's stuff

The good news? Once you know what to look for, phishing is actually pretty easy to spot! 🕵️