Be careful with spam emails

Posted on: October 15, 2014 | By: Ryan Gay | Filed under: Data & Identity, Info Security

Over the lastspammsg few weeks, Elon University has experienced an influx in spam emails being sent to students, faculty, and staff. The emails that have been reported to the Technology Service Desk have become as chameleon-like as ever, coming in different shapes and forms that somehow do an excellent job of mimicking an official Elon University look. Here are some things to keep in mind when checking your email and wondering whether or not a message is spam.

No account information by email

Campus Technology Support will never send you communications involving your account by email. The most popular piece of spam that has made its way through Elon, particularly affecting students, threatens that an email account will be deactivated if you do not provide your email username and password. Without a doubt, this is a spam message aimed at providing hackers with the tools to access your account. If you ever respond to a message such as this, it is important that you reset your account password as soon as possible.

How can I reduce the amount of spam I receive?

Elon University’s spam filters are actually managed through Gmail (for students) and Microsoft (for faculty and staff). Due to this, Instructional & Campus Technologies has limited capabilities in how we can prevent spam from spreading across campus accounts. If you notice the exact same email address sending you repeated spam emails, you may contact the Technology Service Desk and we can attempt to have that address blocked from our systems. However, due to the capabilities of malicious users, it is incredibly difficult to catch every piece of spam email. For more information on spam management, click here. However, there are some actions you can take:

  • Students – If you receive spam email, you can select the message and report it as spam or phishing email to Gmail. This will help the company strengthen its protocols to help ultimately reduce the amount of spam sent to users.
  • Faculty/Staff – Faculty and staff can report spam to Microsoft by flagging it as ‘junk’ when they receive it. Simply right-click on the message, navigate to ‘Junk’ and select ‘block sender.’ This will keep the email address in question from sending you messages again. If you notice a particular domain (e.g., @widget.com) sending spam messages, you can navigate to ‘Junk’ and select ‘Junk e-mail options…’ and add the domain to the ‘Blocked Senders’ list. This way, you will no longer receive email from that domain.

Be wary of email subscriptions

Keep in mind that if you sign up for a mailing list for any variety of companies (e.g., Target, CVS), your contact information may not be kept confidential. Companies are known for selling their databases to others, which can be one explanation for why you start receiving emails from companies you’ve never looked at or contacted before. Most of these messages have an unsubscribe option, so you should take advantage of that to prevent receiving messages over and over again.

But what if I keep getting spam?

Unfortunately, spam is very much like the common cold. You can do your best to avoid it, but eventually you’ll succumb to it just like everyone else. The best steps you can take are to remain vigilant, never open suspicious attachments in emails, and to delete emails that you don’t recognize as soon as you receive them. It may be a nuisance, but flagging it as junk and clicking delete are much less complicated and time-consuming than having to take care of a compromised account.

Remember, Campus Technologies will never ask for passwords or account information electronically. Using a cautious eye when it comes to email messages will help ensure the safety of your account from future attacks. If you ever have questions about the validity of email messages, please contact the Technology Service Desk at 278-5200.

Image by Ryan Gay

Ryan Gay

Ryan is the Manager of Service Management & IT Project Lead for Instructional & Campus Technologies. He has received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from UNC-Greensboro.

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