Scams are nothing new. Only the delivery system changes. In the modern era, more and more scams come from emails, often taking the form of an official message from a trusted source.
This past weekend, many students received an email from the “help desk.” While Memphis.edu is the domain for anyemail from the University of Memphis, this particular email did not contain that domain at all.
The email asked students to follow a link directing them to fill in their online data and update their account.
The University of Memphis Help Desk was alerted about the issue when a call came in from a student stating they received the email and wasn’t sure what to do. The help desk attendant then asked the student to send the office the email they’d received, which was then turned over to abuse.memphis.edu, the University’s spam email help line.
Despite quick action from the help desk, some students may have fallen for the scam, also known as “phishing.” Even if some did not, it is still a distraction to those who have received the email. Not only did the scammers attempt to get vital personal info from students, but it also asked for them to change the settings on their email account.
Ellen Watson, Chief Information Officer and Vice Provost for Information Technology had some advice for students at risk for falling for these “phishing” emails.
“Look very carefully when reading an email you aren’t familiar with,” Watson said. Watson also stated that there are notices about spam messages posted on University of Memphis’ website as well as her blog, blogs.memphis.edu/cio.
“We have had over 7 million spam messages that we have stopped,” Watson said. “On more than one occasion are there different hackers who try getting others identity, and in many different ways.”
Two University of Memphis students were just a couple of the recent email scam victims. Kelsey Duffy, junior fashion merchandising student, received the email. Duffy said that she simply deleted the email and did not pay much attention to it.
A fellow classmate of Duffy, Antonique Walker, a sophomore and health and human performance major, said that she too received the email.
“I get a lot of unimportant emails, so I just ignored it and deleted it,” Walker said.
Duffy and Walker responded properly by deleting the emails and giving no response, but some students may have fallen for the trick.
The first step in being protected from such situations starts with the individuals themselves. Watson has created a blog where students can go to view important information from the IT team.
According to Watson, students should protect themselves and be sure to log out of any public computer they are using. Doing so limits the risk of someone visiting the computer and stealing personal information.
Watson also gave details on what to do if an email is ever sent claiming to be from the University.
An email will never ask for direct account information. If something needs to be changed, the email will have directions on where to update the information. The email will never include a hyperlink for students to follow. Finally, students should always look for the establishment or organization name to be included in the email.
“Students have got to be smart about it these days,” Watson said.
