Over the holiday weekend many Stanford email users received fraudulent messages asking them to verify their email accounts by replying with account details, including passwords. These messages do not come from Stanford. Their "Reply-To" addresses are anonymous accounts in non-Stanford domains such as "live.com" and "googlemail.com".
If you receive messages asking for account passwords, please DO NOT REPLY. Neither Stanford nor any other reputable business or institution would ask for your password via email.
These messages are a "phishing" scam, used to trick the unwary into giving their account credentials to an anonymous attacker who then takes over the account and uses it to launch other attacks. We have had three confirmed reports of Stanford accounts being compromised by this scam.
The ITS email team began blocking these incoming messages at the central mail servers on Saturday, February 16. As a further precaution, replies to the currently known attackers' addresses are being blocked at the central servers to prevent exposing any more accounts.
Because the attackers are using anonymous accounts, they could change addresses at any time. So be on the lookout for new variations of this scam, and remember that you should never send someone your SUNet password for any reason.
Following is the text of an email being sent to Stanford email accounts, which seeks personal information in order to compromise your account. Do not respond. Do not send your personal information. Do not send your password. Never send this kind of information through email.
Verify and Update Your Stanford Email Dear Stanford Email Owner, This message is from stanford messaging center to all stanford email owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and email center. We are deleting all unused stanford email to create more space for new emails. To prevent your from closing you will have to update it below so that we will know that it's a present used . CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW Email Username : ............... Email Password : ................ Date of Birth : ............... Country or Territory : .......... Warning!!! owner that refuses to update his or her within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her permanently. Thank you for using stanford.edu Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ Thanks, STANFORD Email Service.
If you have any questions or need any assistance, please submit a HelpSU Request.