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Scammers Continue to Hit Student Inboxes with Fake E-Mails

According to Gerry Sneeringer, Director of IT Security at Maryland-based Office of Information Technology, about 70 students have replied to scam e-mails since April 2008, allowing spammers to access their accounts, as reported by DiamondBlackOnline on July 31, 2008.

Thus, in connection with students being scammed, Security Specialists at Maryland said that although university filters try to block the messages, spammers keep finding ways to evade these filters. The fraudulent e-mails persuade students to provide their passwords to keep their school e-mail accounts active.

Spammers use the stolen e-mail accounts to attack other universities. By getting hold of the additional e-mail accounts, they are saved from being easily tracked. However, according to university officials, a genuine message from any school will never seek for personal information from students.

The university is struggling against the continuous problem of spam. It writes articles as well as design posters and screensavers warning students of the danger. They also post notices on the school's e-mail Website, reminding scholars not to give their passwords to anyone.

According to Sneeringer, users are increasingly being duped by hoax e-mails, as they seem more and more realistic. Their grammar, tone and overall quality is improving, making them appear come from a genuine organization. Sometimes the e-mails are so short that students fall to read them.

Also, as a result of e-mail spam, the level of popularity of most eminent social networking Websites like Bebo, LinkedIn and Facebook has ruined. As e-mail IDs are freely found on these Websites, scammers exploit the situation and flood mailboxes with huge volumes of spam.

They embed reputable links on the messages, giving an impression that they are from a reliable source. Together with those links, scammers include links that point to spoofed Websites where users are asked for their private information.

Some students easily identify that the e-mail are fake but respond them without realizing their implications. However, students should not reply to spam mails that do not confirm the validity of the e-mail addresses of the sender.

Related article: Scammers Exploit Tax System Resulting in ID Theft

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