Tuesday, April 1: More Phishing; Don't Bite

Another phishing attempt is circulating at Stanford. Please don't be fooled.

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.

Below is one of the fraudulent emails we have received to date:

********************* SAMPLE ************************
VERIFY YOUR STANFORD EMAIL ACCOUNT NOW

Dear STANFORD Email Account users,
This message is from STANFORD messaging center to all STANFORD email 
account users. We are currently conducting a maintenance exercise 
which is meant to upgrading our database and e-mail account center.
This exercise involves the deactivation of dormant /unused/invalid 
email accounts to make room for further upgrading.

To confirm the validity of your email and to prevent your account from 
deactivation, you are advised to update it by proving us with the 
following information.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW
Email Username: .....................
EMAIL Password: ....................
Date of Birth: ...........................
Country or Territory: ................

Warning!!!
Account owners are expected to update their accounts within 10 work 
days after receipt of this notice. Failure to comply with this notice 
within the stipulated time will face the risk of loosing his or her 
account.

Thank you for using STANFORD!
Warning Code: VX2G99AAJ
STANFORD Web Team
STANFORD.EDU BETA
********************* SAMPLE ************************

If you have any questions or would like to send information on spam you are receiving, please submit a HelpSU request.

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