So far this month, we’ve not seen a lot of especially dangerous spam in our udel.edu inboxes. We’ve seen a lot of “repeat scams”:
- Fake warnings about failed electronic payments,
- A variety of Facebook-related scams like this one,
- Pleas for help distributing or investing large sums of money for someone overseas,
- Scams claiming you need to send in your password and account and birth date so “we” can reset your email account (sample below),
- and lots of other favorites.
Most banks, utilities, and major corporations send you secure messages at their web sites and ask you re reply with a secure message using their web site. No one at UD or any other legitimate entity will ever ask you to submit your password in email.
Bottom line: if a message asks you to send personal information back via email, delete it.
As promised above, here’s a sample of an email scam. It’s a pretty easy one to spot (typos, not bothering to spoof a udel.edu address, fractured grammar, etc.) See one like it? Delete it.
From: IT Services Update! <updatevices@yahoo.cn> Subject: [ESC7-SPAM] Account Update! Date: January 27, 2012 4:15:18 AM EST Account Update! Dear Email User This message is from Information Technology Services of This EMAIL to all our Staff. We are currently upgrading our database and e-mail center and this is our final notification to you.we have sent several messages to you without response. We are deleting all unused Mail account to create space for new accounts. In order not to be suspended, you will have to update your account by providing the information listed below: updatevices@activist.com Confirm Your E-Mail Details.. Email....................... User name: .................. Password:.............. Re Confirm Password:............. If you fail to confirm your continuous usage of our services by confirming your email password now, your account will be disable and you will not be able to access your email. You should immediately reply this email: updatevices@activist.com and enter your password in the above password column. Thanks for your understanding. Regard, IT Services
