Warning: Bogus e-mail messages circulating

Warning: Bogus e-mail messages circulating

University Park, Pa. -- Bogus e-mail messages from addresses such as "The Psu.edu Team," "websupport@webmaster.com"  and "ALERT@psu.edu" have been circulating that claim to be from Penn State.

One version of these messages states that it's from the "webmail messaging center" and that the University is upgrading Penn State WebMail, so recipients should "upgrade their user accounts." It also requests that recipients "provide their user name, password and date of birth within seven working days, or risk losing their accounts."

These e-mails did not come from Penn State and are a phishing scam. Do not respond to these e-mails. If you receive an e-mail similar to what is described above, do not provide any of the requested information and delete the message immediately. Penn State Information Technology Services (ITS) urges students, faculty, and staff not to give their passwords to anyone, under any circumstances. Your password is an essential part of your Penn State "digital identity" and must always be kept as secure as possible. In addition, the University (and other official organizations) will never require you to provide sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or social security information via e-mail.

Students, faculty, and staff can learn more about phishing scams and other computer security dangers at Penn State's Take Control Web site (http://its.psu.edu/takecontrol/phishing.php). Phishing scams are perpetrated by criminals, who use fraudulent e-mails or fake Web sites to seek sensitive or personal information, such as passwords, credit card account information, and Social Security numbers for illegal interests. Other universities report the same type of targeted phishing scams being sent to recipients in their own communities.