Fraudulent E-mail Sent to University Outlook Exchange Accounts

To:
University Community
From:
Information Technology
Re:
Fraudulent E-mail Sent to University Outlook Exchange Accounts
Date:
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Please be advised that suspect e-mails were sent to the Outlook Exchange e-mail accounts of some members of the University community this morning, July 2, 2008. These e-mails appear to be from St. John’s requesting validation of e-mail accounts and ask for confirmation and passwords. These e-mails are a type of internet fraud known as “phishing.”

Do not respond to these messages.  You should delete these e-mails. You can identify these e-mails by the “from” and “subject” fields:

  • “From: St Jonhs. Webmail Team [mailto:serge.baillargeon@3web.net]”
  • “Subject: Subject: CONFIRM YOUR STJOHNS.EDU EMAIL ACCOUNT NOW!!” or
    “Subject: FW: Dear webmail account owner”

The body of this e-mail states:

-----Original Message-----
From: St Jonhs. Webmail Team [mailto:serge.baillargeon@3web.net]
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 8:48 AM
Subject: CONFIRM YOUR STJOHNS.EDU EMAIL ACCOUNT NOW!!


Dear STJOHNS.EDU Email Account Owner,
This message is from STJOHNS.EDU messaging center to all STJOHNS.EDU emailaccount owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused email accounts
to create space for new accounts. To prevent your account from being deactivated, you will have to
upgrade it.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT
Email Username : ...............
Email Password : ..............
Date of Birth : ..................
Country or Territory : .........


Warning!!! Account owners that refuses to update their accounts within seven(7) days of receiving this email will lose their accounts permanently.
Thank you for using STJOHNS.EDU!
Warning Code: USV64MT1

Thanks,
STJOHNS.EDU WEBMAIL TEAM
STJOHNS.EDU BETA

STJOHNS.EDU TEAM


Responsible institutions including St. John’s University would never ask you to send personal information or passwords via e-mail.  Misspellings, such as the University’s name in the “from” field, are hallmarks of fraudulent e-mails.

If you require assistance or need more information, please contact your Information Technology representative or call extension 5000.