Google Calendar: Reduce spam/phishing invitations from being added to your calendar

  1. What this is (Calendar “spam” / “phishing” events):
    Sometimes scammers send Google Calendar invitations that look like real events but include suspicious links or attachments (example: “Read via Acrobat”). If an invitation is automatically added, it can show up on your Google Calendar (and sometimes on shared calendars).

  2. Change your Google Calendar setting to limit invitations being added automatically:
    In Google Calendar, you can choose when invitations get added to your calendar.

Steps:

  • Open Google Calendar

  • Click the gear icon (top right) → Settings

  • Click Event settings (left side)

  • Find Add invitations to my calendar

  • Set it to: Only if the sender is known

Uploaded Image (Thumbnail)

 

  1. If you already see a suspicious event on your Google Calendar:

  • Do not click links or attachments in the event.

  • Remove/Delete the event and Decline the invitation if prompted.

  • Check Gmail → Spam for the invitation email and report it as phishing/spam if you find it.

  • If you clicked anything in the event, contact IT right away.  You can submit an IT ticket by navigating to https://help.lanecc.edu

In Summary:
Setting Add invitations to my calendar to Only if the sender is known helps prevent many spam/phishing invitations from being automatically added in Google Calendar. If a suspicious event appears, don’t click anything—remove/decline it, check Gmail spam, and contact IT if you interacted with it.

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