Vanderbilt University Information Technology wants to remind the community of the dangers of email phishing scams, which spike following major news events or predictable events (holidays, back-to-school, tax returns). During this year’s back-to-school, we have experienced one of these increases. Some of these more recent phishing attacks are extremely well done and very convincing. VUIT cautions all Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to exercise additional caution and to stop and think before clicking on Web links, emails and Facebook posts. Go to major or trusted news websites for information.
Phishing is the practice of “fishing” for victims and luring these unsuspecting Internet users to a fake website. This is accomplished with email messages that appear to be from legitimate organizations with the purpose of convincing you to divulge passwords, financial or other personal information or to introduce a virus to your computer and the network.
Do not respond to unsolicited email messages offering services or assistance or requesting personal information. Also, do not click on any links, photos or videos these messages may contain as they have a high potential to install viruses and malware on your computer systems. The same cautions also apply to unsolicited Facebook and other social networking messages, ads, videos and links.
If you have any questions, please contact your local technology support professional or one of the Vanderbilt IT help desks:
• VUMC Helpdesk 615-343-HELP
• University Helpdesk: 615-343-9999