Identifying Phishing Email Scams

Email scams are on the rise. In particular, a type of email scam known as phishing attempts to trick you into divulging personal information such as username, password, date of birth, or SSN. Over 85% of email received by UWF is identified as spam and blocked before delivery. Still, the high volume of fraudulent email makes it impractical for the ITS Help Desk to alert campus of every new scam, so it is the responsibility of each UWF employee to learn how to identify and react to phishing emails.

Tips to Identify Phishing Scams

  • No legitimate institution will request your password via email.
  • Be cautious of unexpected requests for personal information. Ask yourself, is this information that they should already have? Why do they need this information?
  • Be skeptical of emails from a generic sender, such as “UWF.EDU team.”
  • Look for misspellings and poor grammar. Legitimate business email is typically professional and polished.
  • Beware of links to websites. A favorite phishing technique is to create a phony website that looks just like the real website of the organization they are pretending to be. For example, you may be sent to a website that looks exactly like your bank’s website, but is actually run by criminals waiting for you to enter your personal information.
  • Does anything just not feel right? If you have any doubts regarding legitimacy, contact the institution to confirm. Do not use the contact information provided in the email or website, as it may also be phony. Instead, find the organization’s website or contact information using a search engine.

If You Receive a Phishing Email

If you receive a phishing email, just delete it. If you need help determining the legitimacy of an email or website, call or email the ITS Help Desk.

If you responded to a phishing scam, it is important to act quickly. If you provided a password, account number, or PIN number, immediately notify the organization that manages the account. In the case of your UWF ArgoNet password, contact the ITS Help Desk at 474-2075 or helpdesk@uwf.edu.

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