Auburn University Students Worried on Twitter Phishing Scams

According to reports, increasing phishing scams on the popular social networking site Twitter have caused worries to several students studying at Auburn University (US).

Students are worried as they don't know what exactly should be their approach if they happen to fall for one of the many phishing scams hitting Twitter. It is learnt that this particular social networking site is very popular among the students of Auburn University.

The website of the Auburn University's Office of Information Technology (OIT) has identified phishing scams as those traditionally fake e-mails purporting to come from authentic sources such as Internet Service Provider, users' bank, eBay or PayPal to name a few.

As per the security experts, the University's official website is deficient in terms of comprehensive information on Internet security; for instance, advice like students should make use of some difficult password so as to avoid the risk of phishing scams goes missing on the site. In fact, this is very crucial because password theft could lead to potential identity theft as majority of students think such official sites as highly reliable, giving away their confidential personal and financial details.

Moreover, phishing scams hitting Twitter are becoming increasingly personalized. For instance, Twitter accounts of celebrities, including Britney Spears and CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, were hacked by phishers. Such incidents are making Auburn students even more worried.

However, the University has taken an initiative by encouraging students to forward any suspicious e-mail received by them to abuse@auburn.edu in order to make sure that none of the students falls victim of any phishing scam.

Furthermore, Information Technician at Auburn University, Seth Humphrey, have advised students to be cautious while sharing their personal credentials through Internet, particularly by using social networking sites such as Twitter, as reported by theplainsman.com on June 5, 2009.

In its website, Twitter has also tried to pacify the worried users by stating that in case the account of any user is compromised in a phishing scheme, Twitter will automatically reset that account's password. Twitter ultimately advised users to install up-dated security software on their PCs to evade such scams.

Related article: Auburn University Sends Out Phishing Alert

» SPAMfighter News - 6/13/2009