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PHISHING ATTEMPTS CONTINUE AND APPEAR TO BE MORE AND MORE LEGITIMATE!

DON'T BECOME A VICTIM - DON'T REPLY TO THESE MESSAGES!

Sometimes, e-mail messages may appear to be from legitimate sources - "Oberlin College Information Technology Support', financial institutions (e.g., Bank of America, Lorain National Bank), or other credit or account organizations (e.g., eBay, PayPal) with whom you either do or do not have an active account. The message often states some critical need for you to contact them and provide information, and may include statements such as:

• Verify Your Account
• If You Don't Respond Within 48 Hours, Your Account May Be Closed
• Account Information Needed
• Dear Valued Customer

There is then usually a link to click to provide information such as your username and password, Social Security Number, account number, credit card information, etc.

DO NOT reply to these messages or click on any links. The senders are "phishing" [pronounced as fishing] for personal information and responses can lead to account access, credentials for the purpose of sending spam from real accounts, fraud and/or identity theft.

To protect yourself:

• Never respond to a message such as this, or click on any links.
• Contact the organization mentioned to make sure the message is legitimate (Note: CIT, financial organizations, and others DO NOT send legitimate e-mail asking for account information.).
• Keep your computer's operating system updated (allow automatic updates - at Oberlin, this is set up for all College-owned Windows computers).
• Keep your anti-virus software updated.
• Use updated anti-spyware software.

Sample Phishing Messages: