Read Between the Lines
NSIT will never ask for your password or Social Security Number in an email. However, some scammers do send email messages asking for this kind of information in order to steal your identity. Learn how to recognize these email scams.
An email "phishing" scam is an email fraud in which the perpetrator sends legitimate looking emails that appear to come from a well-known and trustworthy website in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from a recipient. Recipients of these emails can be easily fooled by the color schemes, templates, and wording contained in the emails.
To help you identify when you have received a fraudulent email, NSIT maintains a Phishing website. The site contains examples of phishing scams that have circulated throughout the University community, questions you can ask yourself when determining whether an email is from a legitimate institution, tips on identifying fake URLs, and a link to a fun interactive game that will help you learn about phishing. The site also contains information on reporting scams, and external links for more information.
By educating yourself about the tactics used by email scammers, you can be prepared to identify fraudulent emails. Get started here.
Last updated: 6/1/09