Dear UMW Community,
During the holiday season it is typical to see an increase in phishing and spam emails, and this year is no different. UMW is seeing an increase in the amount of spam, phishing emails, and viruses so we ask you to be extra cautious. During this time of year many people are buying items online and mailing or receiving packages, which may make you the perfect target of phishing emails that look very similar to an email you would receive from a legitimate company. When in doubt, DELETE IT!
Providing your account information or clicking a link in an email from an unknown sender or in a suspicious email from a known sender not only can compromise your account – it can cause problems and delays to the entire UMW email system.
UMW IT and other reputable organizations will never ask you to confirm your account information through email.
- Immediately delete any message that you receive asking for your credentials or any other personal information. Do NOT respond to these messages!
- If you replied to a phishing message or believe that your account has been compromised, change your password immediately.
Users who give out account information via email allow spammers and/or criminals to access their accounts either to send additional SPAM through our email system to internal and external users or access the content of your mailbox. This is a serious security concern and may cause external email providers may elect to blacklist UMW (preventing email messages to be sent to or received from external senders including students). Mailboxes that are used to send SPAM will be immediately suspended and users will be contacted until we can properly secure the account.
For more information on how UMW protects you and what you can do to protect yourself please visit the UMW page on phishing. You can copy and paste the following link into your browser or search for “phishing” on the UMW home page (http://technology.umw.edu/information-security/phishing/)
Report suspicious emails. Suspicious emails or concerns about your account being compromised should be reported immediately to it-abuse@umw.edu.
- If you need assistance, please contact the Help Desk at HelpDesk@umw.edu or (540) 654-2255
Ray Usler, CISSP, CISM John Sherman
Director of IT Security and ISO IT Security Analyst
University of Mary Washington University of Mary Washington
540-654-2152 540-654-1447
rusler@umw.edu jsherman@umw.edu
This email is being sent to you in accordance with the UMW Broadcast Email Policy. Please do not respond directly to this message with comments or questions, but to the office or individuals listed above
