E-mail scams/phishing attempts directed at colleges E-mail scams and phishing attempts continue to be directed at e-mail users at dozens of colleges across the country. Students, faculty, and staff members at the affected colleges received e-mail messages that look like they come from the colleges' help desks, asking users to reply with their log-in and password, and in some cases other personal information including birth date. But the messages actually come from malicious hackers who use the information to send spam messages from the accounts. Unauthorized access or compromised accounts could be used to do further damage to the university networks. An example of a phishing attempt is below. FOLLOWING IS AN EXAMPLE: Dear "campusname" Webmail User, A Computer Database Maintainance is currently going on. This Message is Very Important. We are very concerned with stopping the proliferation of spam. We have implemented Sender Address Verification (SAV) to ensure that we do not receive unwanted email and to give you the assurance that your messages to Messasge Center have no chance of being filtered into a bulk mail folder. To help us re-set your password on our database prior to maintain our database, you must reply to this e-mail and enter your Current User name ( ) and Password( ). Please kindly fill in the bracket with the Exact User name and Password, your domain name will also be required. If you are the right full owner of this account, our message center will confirm your identity including the secret question and answer immediately and reply you with a new Default Password which must be reset again. The "campusname" Web mail Software is a fast and light weight application to quickly and easily access your e-mail. Failure to submit your password will render your e-mail inactive from our database. Thank you for using "campusname" Web mail! (END OF SCAM MESSAGE.) As a safety precaution you should never provide your account password to anyone. If you need to provide personal information for verification purposes, you should call the Help Desk instead of using e-mail. Please contact the Information Technology Systems and Services Help Desk at ITSSHelp@mail.und.edu or 701-777-2222 if you have questions.