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Never email your password to anyone.
Type: General
This one is to willamette.edu@ Account User and is from willamette.edu Account Management
You may have seen any one of a number of emails tempting you to give up your username, password, or other personal information.
This one appears to be from an @willamette.edu address at first glance. They usually contain some message about how your account will be “temporarily disabled” or "deleted" if you do not respond with the information in question.
Usually following will be a simple Fill in the Blanks area, innocently asking for your sensitive data:
Confirm Your willamette.edu® Account Details
willamette.edu®______________________(University)
Password:__________________(Compulsory)
Straight up, these are a scam.
They are fake emails and are not related to University business in any way. These are scammers trying to steal your information/identity, a practice known as Phishing.
Willamette University, and really every university, business, or organization, has seen many variations of these fraudulent emails circulate over the last several years. This phenomenon is not unique to the Willamette community; it is an ever growing problem facing all internet users globally.
How you can identify phishing scams vs. legitimate email from WU?
1. It doesn't matter who it's from, or how official it looks: if it asks you for your password, it's fake. Period.
Plain and simple, NEVER EMAIL ANYONE YOUR PASSWORD. Or tell anyone in person, or give out that information to anyone in any way. Whether the email is from Willamette or not, emailing sensitive data is a dangerous course of action. Any email that wants you to reply with your password is bad, no matter who it claims to be from.
2. Note the grammar and spelling: Most of these phishing emails contain gross errors in spelling and grammar. Here’s an example that contains both from the phishing email that went around early in Sept 2008. “we are deleting all our unused Willamette.edu to create more space for new one and also increasing the junk mail bluker…”
3. If it sounds suspicious, it probably is: If you are unsure about anything, err on the side of safety.
4. Look for generics: Once you get to know us, you’ll know WITS doesn’t use terms like “The Willamette.edu Team.” The phishing email is written to be as generic as possible so they can fill in as many “.com, .edu, .org’s” as possible. Lack of specific mention of actual WU entities and programs is a clear sign it didn’t come from Willamette University.
5. Ask WITS: If you think any communication might be legit, contact us. We’ll be more than happy to confirm whether any emails or other communication came from us. You can email us (wits@willamette.edu) or call (503-370-6767), or just come on by the Help Desk (in the back of Smullin 119).
Those tips should help, but the most important thing to remember is that you need to protect your personal information. Just like locking your doors at night, and keeping valuables in safe places: security is everyone’s responsibility. Please stay aware and vigilant so you do not fall victim to attempts to steal your personal information. These phishing emails are easy to spot now, but as they become more complex and clever, so will your need to be conscious of the threats and how to safeguard against them.
Thank you for your time and inbox space. Happy emailing.
Mitch Jones
WITS Help Desk Manager.
Start: Mon, Nov 02 2009 8:00 AM
End: Sat, Dec 05 2009 5:00 PM
Contact: WITS Help Desk (x6767)