Phishing Emails Alert

Recently, several phishing emails have been sent to UNF Faculty, Staff and Students. ITS Security has systems in place to help identify and block these types of messages, however, some of these messages will still make it through our systems. It is important stay vigilant to help identify phishing emails. Recent phishing tactics experienced at UNF include:

Messages warning of an impending de-activation or account closure, and a link to a website to ‘verify’ your account. The link is used to steal your credentials. Note that UNF will never ask you for your password.
Offer of a job to the recipient. Usually this is an unsolicited job that offers unrealistically high pay, with no interview or a few perfunctory questions by email. Eventually, the criminal will either ask for personal information “for payroll purposes” which is used for identity theft.
Urgent messages from an executive or other important person asking to buy gift-cards
Messages from a store or common service (such as Netflix) claiming that payment was denied for a recent purchase and directing you to a (fake) website to have you re-enter your credit card information.
A forged message from a bank alerting you to an account update or a fraudulent transaction was suspected which requires you to login immediately to resolve it.
Messages claiming to be from the IRS, the FBI, or other government agencies offering a big tax refund or accusing you of a crime and threating penalties.

For more information on Phishing, how to identify it, and how to report it, please visit the UNF Phishing Knowledge Base article. For additional questions, please contact your C-Tech or the Help Desk at helpdesk@unf.edu.

TAGS: Security

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