Latest phishing scam masquerades as Rice University management

Latest phishing scam masquerades as Rice University management

Don’t be deceived by e-mails with the subject line “Verify and update your rice.edu e-mail.” Rice Information Technology reports that this — or similarly labeled e-mails — is the latest phishing e-mails circulating on campus. They are made to appear to have been sent by Rice University management or info@rice.edu, they were not.

No one at Rice University will ever ask for a user’s Rice password, and no legitimate organization will request personal information by e-mail. Do not respond to these e-mails.

Phishing e-mails are messages that fraudulently attempt to get sensitive information, such as user names, passwords and credit card information, by masquerading as e-mail from a trusted source.

“They look like e-mails that Rice would send out, and they even use our Web mail server address,” said Mark Scarborough, Rice’s information security officer. “But everyone at Rice should know that we would never ask you to send your password in an e-mail or direct you to a site asking you to type in that information.”

For more information about phishing, visit Information Technology’s “Phishing FAQ,” http://www.rice.edu/it/security/phishingFAQs.html.