The student email system recently became the target of a series of scam emails. These messages, claiming to come from internal webmail service, ask the receiver to “verify your account information” or “update your webmail account.”
“Quite a few accounts lately have been compromised due to being tricked by scam emails,” according to an email sent to the campus community by Campus Technology Support.
Philip Younts, religion senior, said his email account was compromised, but he doesn’t remember clicking on any links in his email.
“I had about 1,500 spam emails in my account two days in a row,” he said. “Then I was locked out of my account.“
Luckily, Younts said he has not experienced any problems with his phone or computer since his account was compromised.
“A person at Campus Tech unlocked my account and everything was fine,” he said.
I hope this attack is limited to the campus email system. The university stores important personal information of all its students, including financial and academic records.
I do not know what the university is doing to prevent future attacks and eliminate the current threat, but it is important for the safety of students, faculty and staff that our personal information be protected.
I am glad Campus Tech officials are disabling compromised accounts to protect the rest of us. I would also like to thank Campus Tech for their quick response to students locked out of their accounts.
Do what you can to protect yourself. Never respond to a request to verify a password or personal information through email. If you are unsure of an email’s origin, call the company or organization.
Gerry Hunt, chief informant officer, was unavailable for comment at presstime.
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