Oakland University Students Targeted by a Phishing Scam

According to news released by University Technology Services, OU (Oakland University) students have been alerted of a sophisticated phishing scam targeted at them.

Security experts have defined phishing e-mails as fake e-mails that appear to come from reputed organizations, and while reading the mail, the user clicks on a link that takes him to a trumped-up site where all his private data are leaked.

Presently, the students at Oakland Campus claimed that they have received a mail, which seems to be from the "Office of Students Affairs" and containing the subject line "2008 OU Student Survey". The reports revealed that the mail directs user to an authentic looking site which is marked by the OU logo.

The University Technology Services informed that the fake e-mail starts on a note of survey conducted by "Office of Students Affairs" of former and present students and OU alumni. The survey includes a variety of important issues and will enable the university staff and administration to take strong and constructive decisions regarding the students of OU.

To make it appear more authentic, it carries the signature of "Office of Students Affairs, Oakland University" and also offers various prizes for completing the survey. But, it also claimed that if OU alumni or students received this mail, he should delete it immediately.

Chief Information Officer, Terrie Rowe said that these developed phishing methods target the comfort level and people's familiarity with reputed institute like Oakland University, as reported by wxyz on July 24, 2008.

Terrie also explained that though the mail claimed to be from the Office of Students Affairs, the mail address from which it was sent not end with oakland.edu. This is the first thing that a user should confirm. It was also found that the URL of the message did not carry the oakland.edu domain, with weird typos throughout the survey page and mail text. These are the aspects, which a user should notice while going through the mails.

Hence, Security experts added that with the advent of developed phishing scam, attackers have become smarter so users should also pull up their socks and should act vigilant.

Related article: Oklahoma Tax Website Hacked, Spreading Malware

» SPAMfighter News - 8/6/2008