Wouldn’t it be great if you could quickly know if an email you receive is suspicious without having to closely inspect each one? Now you can!

The Division of IT activated External Sender tags for all campus email accounts on October 7. A gray tag shows a message came from outside of Texas A&M, while yellow tags indicate an email could be malicious.

External Sender tags are just one tool you can use to determine if an email is safe. An External Sender tag means you need to stop and think about the email:

• Be suspicious of messages appearing to be from a Texas A&M University campus member that are flagged as external. If you don’t recognize the sender’s address, treat the message with caution.
• No External Sender tag, but still a bit suspicious? Accounts of campus members can be compromised and used to send phishing emails. 
• As always, be suspicious of messages that request personal information or make urgent demands. When in doubt, don’t click any links and verify authenticity with the sender before opening. Learn more about spotting phishing attempts. 

Additional details about External Sender tags are available in the Knowledge Base. Although the ultimate decision of reading or responding to an email is yours, the new tags help you make an informed choice. If you have questions about External Sender tags or want to report a suspicious email, contact Help Desk Central.