Multiple Phishing Scams Hit WSU Campus

Washington State University (WSU) is cautioning students and other members in the campus that a number of phishing campaigns are making rounds to gather confidential as well as personal information like account passwords and logins of e-mail users.

Since the last week of March 2010, the Information Technology Services of WSU received reports about dual phishing e-mails that pretending to be ITS warnings to the students ask for their WSU account login confirmation. The fake e-mail uses harsh language to induce victims to respond. The subject lines include- "Please confirm your Network ID and password," "Washington State University Webmail subscriber" and "Emergency Notification."

Another campaign especially aggressive in nature is also spreading across the locality, while targeting people both within the university campus and in general, according to BBB of Spokane.

This phishing scam uses captions like "your bank account information needs to be updated", "Bank of Whitman", or "your account has been closed." The messages are delivered through texts, e-mail and voicemail. Reportedly, the Bank of Whitman knows that this scam is circulating and is phishing users off their information, so, it is collaborating with authorities towards cautioning its customers.

WSU 'ITS' is suggesting that staff members and students mustn't reply to e-mails soliciting personal information. According to Casey Hanson, ITS director of new communication and media, it is vital to realize the fact that WSU will never ever dispatch an e-mail, text or voicemail requesting for users' private details, as per the news published by The Daily Evergreen on April 7, 2010.

Ms. Hanson said that the e-mails are fraudulent and that users can best presume that any e-mail asking to provide one's personal information is never genuine. This is what all the users can do to avoid being victimized.

Moreover, officials at WSU suggest that in case anybody replied to the fraudulent e-mail and/or provided personal bank account password and login on the fake website, all that information will be compromised. The same will happen if he similarly answered to a text message. In all these instances, the victim must immediately contact his bank.

Additionally, WSU students, faculty and other staff who doubt they've got a fake phishing e-mail, voice or text message can report it to the ITS Security Office too.

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» SPAMfighter News - 4/15/2010