There might be something “phishy” going on with UF emails.
Someone sends an email as a legitimate UF source, when it is really just a piece of bait. Then someone might lure students into giving personal identifying information that he or she then uses for his or her own gain.
Due to the influx in reports of these scams, UF Information Technology reminded students that no one from the university will ever ask for a Gatorlink password or complete social security number.
In an email interview, UFIT Communications Manager Tracy Gale wrote the email and phone scams have been targeting students, faculty and staff from academic and administrative sectors.
Last week, Ada Kokoshi, a 20-year-old finance sophomore, experienced an email “phishing” scam attempt.
She received an email to her UF Webmail account from a seemingly legitimate UF email address that told her that her account was compromised and she needed to go to a website to change her password.
“When I looked at it, I knew something was ‘phishy,’” she said. “Even the word ‘different’ was spelled wrong.”
Kokoshi said she doesn’t give her password out, so she deleted the email.
Gale said if anyone in the UF community receives a phone call or email requesting personal information, they should email or call the UF Computing Help Desk with the details.
She said the only time the help desk may need the last four digits of a student’s Social Security number is when a student forgets his or her password or needs a password reset. Even then, no one at the desk can see a students’ full Social Security number.
UFIT issues alerts when a threat is identified, Gale said.
In order to combat the phone and email scams, she said UFIT wants to teach UF students about the importance of Internet safety through ongoing outreach activities, including contests, events on campus and frequently updated information on the UFIT sites.
