Take this Google quiz to see if you can spot phishing emails

I got five correct out of eight.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter

Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.

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Marrian Zhou

Jan. 23, 2019 7:37 a.m. PT

You're worried that you might get scammed online? If you aren't, you should be.

Jigsaw, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, on Tuesday introduced a quiz that tests whether you can spot a phishing email. The results point out how to identify possible scams.

Phishing emails are one of most common forms of online scams, according to Jigsaw's blog post. They're fake emails that hackers and scammers use as bait to steal your passwords, information, money or items you've listed on e-commerce sites like eBay. In June, the FBI busted a major email fraud criminal ring that stole millions of dollars from businesses by targeting employees who had access to company finances. Phishing emails pretending that they're from Apple Support are also on the rise.

"We created this quiz based on the security trainings we've held with nearly 10,000 journalists, activists, and political leaders around the world from Ukraine to Syria to Ecuador," Jigsaw said in the blog post. "We've studied the latest techniques attackers use, and designed the quiz to teach people how to spot them."

The quiz will show you how to check email addresses and URLs to identify scams. In addition, you can check out CNET's tips for avoiding scams and find out what to do when you're scammed on e-commerce platforms.

First published on Jan. 22, 10:12 a.m. PT.

Updates on Jan. 23, 7:37 a.m. PT: Adds more information on phishing emails.