February 20, 2019

If It Seems Phishy It Probably Is

envelope on fishhook — Computer attacks - set of flat design infographics elements. E-mail malware, trojan, firewall, worm, ddos, logic bomb, scanning system, phishing, credit card fraud, data loss, password, software bug

Online scammers and identity thieves are continuing to get more sophisticated with their tactics, counting on you to take the bait. As we kick off the new semester, remember to watch for and don’t click on emails that contain:

•Requests for your username or password
•Warnings/threats to suspend an account or service if you don’t click on an embedded link or provide personal information
•Notifying you of a virus on your machine with a request to log in to a website to fix it or provide personal and/or account information
•Asking you to open an attachment that you don’t recognize or were not expecting to receive

In almost all cases, if an email looks suspicious it probably is! If you doubt the validity of an email it is always a good idea to contact the sender to confirm. For more information about phishing scams and how to identify them please visit the Information Technology website at https://www.montclair.edu/information-technology/security/phishing/.