Email Phishing Scams Growing

Posted 10/26/07 8:45AM

Scam artists are circulating a  growing number of phony e-mails  over the Internet. Don’t be surprised if you find one in your inbox that requests personal information. Frequently, these messages appear to be from a financial institution, perhaps even from one with whom you do business.

These are commonly called phishing scams. Even smaller, local financial institutions recently have been targeted in this way -- ND Federal Credit Union and Teachers Credit Union, for example.

It is essential that you do NOT click on the links in the e-mail and provide your personal information. If you think the request might be legitimate, call your bank or credit union, using their officially published phone number, or open a new browser window and type in their URL from a trusted source to check it out. Never use any contact information included in the e-mail. If you have already provided personal information as a result of such an e-mail, contact your financial institution immediately.

You can review more information about e-mail phishing at http://oit.nd.edu/email/phishingfaq.shtml and information about identity theft at secure.nd.edu. If you have additional questions, please contact your departmental IT support or the OIT Help Desk (631-8111).