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A staff wide email cautioning of a “phishing” email scam was sent out on Monday by Vice President of Information Technology Services Dwayne Cable.

Phishing is “a scam by which an email user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information, which the scammer can use illicitly,” according to Merriamwebster.com.

The email forwarded a phishing attempt to the entire staff on campus, also included a warning from Cable to “delete these messages immediately.”

The phisher posed as a Direct Deposit agency stating payments were disallowed, according to the example provided by Cable.

Director of the Upward Bound Program Hebe Griffiths received one of the phishing scam emails.

“I would usually delete such emails right away, but this one seemed a bit different because it just asked for us to contact our financial institution,” said Griffiths. The phishing email contained a fake Direct Deposit ID and encouraged the recipient to open a link titled “Details.”

The ITS office usually clears about 95 percent of these scam emails, according to Cable.

Cable explained he was informing staff of the dangers of this phishing scheme, and explained the ITS is doing its best to warn people of these phishing scams when they do get through.

“I’m just trying to make people aware…If you get an email like this, don’t forward it,” said Cable.

Griffiths, who emailed both the ITS help desk and the payroll office, felt both their responses were helpful.

“I was advised to delete it right away. I appreciated their quick response,” said Griffiths.

 

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