Phishing Scam: “Boston University IT Help Center – Please Upgrade Today!”
Be on the lookout for a new phishing email that is circulating through the BU community. The email appears to come from ithelp@bu.edu and has the subject “Boston University IT Help Center – Please Upgrade Today!” A full transcript of this phishing message can be found below.
THIS IS A PHISHING EMAIL AND NOT FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY.
As long as you disregard these e-mails and do not click on any of the links you should be fine. You can learn more about phishing e-mails on our website: http://www.bumc.bu.edu/it/comm-collab/e-mail/unwanted-email/phishing/.
As a reminder, BU will never ask you for personal information or your password.
Here are a few simple tips to avoid being hooked by a phisher:
- If the email asks for your password, it is a scam. Delete it.
- If the email is about a financial account you don’t have or an order that you don’t know anything about, it is almost certainly a scam.
- If you feel you must check out something sent to you in email DON’T CLICK THE LINK. It is completely possible to make a link lie to you. Instead, use your browser to go to the known and trusted website by typing in the URL/Web Address yourself.
- You can tell where a link is going to take you by hovering over it with your mouse. Don’t click. Hover. If you do this for the link above you will see yahoo pop up in a box by your pointer or in a space at the bottom of your email client or browser. General rule: if the email message is lying to you about where it wants to send you, it is a scam.
As always, forward any e-mails you are unsure about to abuse@bu.edu and then delete them. When forwarding an e-mail to abuse@bu.edu, it is helpful to include the full headers if possible. If in doubt, call the BUMC IT Service Desk at (617) 638-5914 or the IT Help Desk (Charles River Campus) at (617) 353-4357.
Transcript of Phishing Scam:From: Boston University IT Help Center [ithelp@bu.edu] Dear Colleague, Due to congestion in our webmail database, we will be shutting down some unused accounts. You will need to confirm your account as soon as possible so we can upgrade your account before the deadline. To Upgrade your account, kindly CLICK THE UNIVERSITY LINK BELOW and fill out the form. ***************************************************** http://www.123contactform.com/form-353182/Boston-University After following the instructions on the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thank you for attending to this request. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
