As the university observes Cyber Security Month in October, Enterprise Information Technology Services offers information to avoid e-mail phishing scams.
Phishing is typically an e-mail scam that tries to deceive people into thinking a legitimate organization is requesting private information. These scams request you to either reply or follow a link to a site that often looks identical to the service the e-mail is mimicking. In recent months UGA and many other universities have been relentlessly targeted by these “spear phishing” scams. To avoid being scammed, EITS recommends that you:
• Never send passwords, bank account numbers or other private information in an e-mail;
• Avoid clicking links in e-mail, especially any that request private information;
• Be wary of any unexpected e-mail attachments or links, even from people you know;
• Never enter private or personal information into a pop-up;
• Look for ‘https://’ and a lock icon in the address bar before entering any private information; and
• Have an updated anti-virus program that can scan e-mail.
E-mails claiming very sudden changes are needed or those that use poor spelling and grammar are clear warning signs of a fraudulent phishing e-mail.
If you think you have been scammed by a phishing e-mail, contact the organization that was the target of the scam to change any private information such as passwords or account numbers immediately. If this happens at UGA, contact the EITS Help Desk at (706) 542-3106.
