Courses Phishing Spot the Scam: Recognize phishing before you click

Course Complete

🎉

Congratulations!

You've completed the PUSHED+VERIFY course

Your Certificate

Certificate of Completion

This certifies that

Your Name

has successfully completed

Spot the Scam: Recognize Phishing Before You Click

Mastering the PUSHED+VERIFY Framework

Completion Date December 28, 2025
Course Duration 2 Hours
Blue Security Ops

What You Learned

🧠

Psychology of Phishing

How attackers exploit human emotions to bypass your critical thinking

🎯

The PUSHED Framework

Six manipulation tactics: Pressure, Urgency, Surprise, High-stakes, Excitement, Desperation

The VERIFY Framework

Six verification steps: Validate, Evaluate, Review, Inspect, Freeze, Yield

🛡️

Real-World Application

How to apply PUSHED+VERIFY to email, text, and phone scams — plus recovery steps

PUSHED+VERIFY Quick Reference

Recognize PUSHED Tactics

  • P Pressure — Authority figures, social pressure
  • U Urgency — Artificial deadlines, time limits
  • S Surprise — Unexpected scenarios, out-of-context
  • H High-stakes — Fear of loss, consequences
  • E Excitement — Prizes, rewards, opportunities
  • D Desperation — Help me, I'm in trouble

Apply VERIFY Steps

  • V Validate — Confirm sender through trusted channel
  • E Evaluate — Was this expected? Does it make sense?
  • R Review — What action do they want? Is it risky?
  • I Inspect — Can you verify before acting?
  • F Freeze — Pause before acting on requests
  • Y Yield — Trust your instincts if something feels wrong

What's Next?

Share What You Learned

Help protect friends and family by teaching them about PUSHED+VERIFY. Scammers target everyone.

Secure Your Accounts

Enable two-factor authentication, use a password manager, and review your security settings.

Stay Vigilant

Scam tactics evolve. Apply PUSHED+VERIFY to every suspicious message — it works for new scams too.