NIU ITS Cautions about Fraudulent Phishing E-Mail Targeting Students

ITS has issued an alert to GroupWise end-users belonging to Northern Illinois University (NIU) in Illinois, USA about one phishing e-mail that's presently doing the rounds, according to Northernstar.info dated October 11, 2011.

Inside the electronic mail, it's written that the messaging center niu.edu is sending the particular e-mail to every account-holder of niu.edu e-mail to inform that they won't be able to access their Web-mail accounts henceforth since upgrading of the same will be performed for acquiring one fresh improved user-interface that niu.edu web-mail will provide.

Continuing further, the e-mail states that starting from the current instance Niu.edu shall stop the access to its NIU web-mail along with the 'Lite interfaces' of its niu.edu web-mail.

The phishing message then asks the recipients to provide their birth dates, usernames and passwords, and e-mail ids.

It even tries to sound genuine so it adds that during the current transition, every electronic mail will stay secured, with all the previous messages of the users remaining intact.

Moreover, the message proceeds to warn that if any user fails to abide by the e-mail's requirement instantly, it'll result in the elimination of his name from the niu.edu database. Eventually, expressing thanks, the NIU Web-mail Service signs off as the e-mail's signatory.

And because the above kinds of scams are so malicious, the ITS' security personnel have urged end-users for adopting certain easy security tips. These are, not answering doubtful e-mails alternatively completing online forms by providing their financial or other personal details like within the above stated instance.

Besides, end-users must be patient for, innumerable people end up getting victimized with online-offences since they don't pause for pondering rather act impulsively like it could occur within the above-stated instance where students are informed about possible deletion of their accounts incase they fail to answer the electronic mail soon.

Finally, incase an end-user feels that an e-mail isn't authentic, he should verify it after getting in touch with the organization sending the e-mail, directly, by searching of his own the contact information similar to the aforementioned instance where students must contact NIU directly for finding out regarding its e-mail's authenticity.

Related article: New Zealand Releases Code To Reduce Spam

» SPAMfighter News - 10/19/2011