Phishing Scams Target University of Delaware E-mailers

Security investigators at the University of Delaware's (UD) IT department have alerted that several phishing scams are attacking e-mail users at the campus, asking for their usernames and passwords.

The investigators said that 'phishing' relates to a fraudulent practice, involving an e-mail as well as a website that spoof genuine companies or institutions in attempts to harvest sensitive information like passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and/or Social Security numbers.

Describing the current e-mail scam in detail, security researchers said that it sent out an e-mail to users which after offering greetings stated that the university was upgrading its system since it had found that a few subscribers were inserting an extremely strong virus into the system that was damaging the school's computer network.

Thereafter, the e-mail stated that all subscribers must furnish personal Username and Password to go through a verification process. It also warned that failure to follow the instruction would result in their accounts' termination within 48 hours.

The e-mail frauds observed at the University of Delaware during the 1st week of November 2009 pose as communications from a formal UD address while directing recipients to provide personal information via e-mail or directing them to follow a URL named non-udel.edu, which on clicking would either install malicious software on their PC or try to capture personal details, the investigators contented.

Nevertheless, the UD IT department notes that it would never tell anyone to send his or her original account details through electronic mail, a rule that is also true for banks as well as other financial institutions.

In addition, the security investigators concluded in the form of an advice that any time users found an e-mail requesting to provide such kinds of data or directing to view a dubious web-link, they must immediately delete that e-mail. For any related queries, they must e-mail to consult@udel.edu (the university's IT Help Center).

In similar news, New York's Stony Brook University recently cautioned the school's inmates that an outbreak of fraudulent electronic mails had lately been dispatched to 'phish' off personal information from the university's members.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 11/19/2009