How to recognize a phishing scam
<p> </p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">There are many types of phishing email scams. Below are two examples of the main types of phishing scams we see. While the details differ, the are all trying to fool you into giving them your account ID & password. Don't fall for this!</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">First example:</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> From: Admin Center [<a href="mailto:tngwenyama@nust.ac.zw" style="color: rgb(0, 33, 59); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153);">mailto:tngwenyama@nust.ac.zw</a>] <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Here is your first clue: the message did not come from an @odu.edu address]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 7:39 AM</p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Subject: Email Quota Alert!!!! <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[Here is your second clue: we do not have email quotas!]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> --</p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> We are pleased to inform you that Our Admin Center is closing all unused accounts because of the congestion in our mail server. To confirm your account active, you are required to complete your details below and send it to us. This information would be required to verify your account to avoid being closed<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">. [OCCS would never need you to confirm whether your account is active, we would know this from the logs.]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Full name: </p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> User Name:</p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Email:</p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Password: <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [OCCS will never ask you for your password]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Reconfirm Password: <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Really, OCCS will never ask you for your password. Please don't share your password or give it to anybody.]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> </p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> </p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Second Example:</b></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">From:</strong> "Bryant, Davina A." <<a href="mailto:BryantD@trocaire.edu" style="color: rgb(0, 33, 59); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153);">BryantD@trocaire.edu</a>> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Here is your first clue: it did not come from an @odu.edu address]</strong><br /> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Date:</strong> March 25, 2013, 4:12:50 PM EDT<br /> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">To:</strong> undisclosed-recipients:;<br /> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Subject:</strong> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">2013 Email Admin system!!! [Usually there will be a generic subject line that looks scary]</strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> As part of our 2013 Upgrade E-mail Security, Admin Support Helpdesk require immediate update on your account information. This is to further boost the storage capacity of your mailbox and to enhance it's ability to receiving and sending emails. <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Another clue: doesn't this look sketchy? If you are not sure about something, contact OCCS! Don't fall for it!]</strong><br /> <br /> To reactivate your account CLICK HERE<http://helpdesk.some-evil-looking-URL.com/so-don't-click-on-it> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Usually there will be a sketchy looking URL here, the key is that it is not an https:// or .odu.edu address. If you don't see HTTPS or ODU.EDU, then be wary!]</strong><br /> <br /> <br /> Note that failure to comply to this directives within 24 hours by updating and upgrading you mailbox will leave the administration with no option but to suspend your account from receiving further emails. <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [The opposite is true! If you fall for this scam, OCCS will have no choice but to suspend your account until you update your password!]</strong><br /> <br /> Thank you for your cooperation.<br /> © 2013 Email Admin system. <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> [Looks pretty generic! It doesn't mention ODU or OCCS, so don't fall for it!]</strong><br /> </p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">So don't be fooled by phishing emails! If you fall for it, your account will be taken over by a spam artist, and used to send out hundreds of spam emails from your account. This could result in ODU being blocked by major email providers such as Hotmail.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, etc. They could also do damage to your account that we may not be able to restore. </strong></p> <p style="margin: 9px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"> Posted By: Aaron Smith</p>
Posted By: Aaron Smith
Date: Mon Apr 22 08:26:18 EDT 2013