November 15, 2018
It has come to the attention of the Faculty of Education that multiple phishing scams have started to appear in peoples inboxes. While the UBC Cybersecurity team continues to investigate this matter, we would like to ask that everyone remains vigilant to help protect information security and data at UBC.
Report any of the following instances to security@ubc.ca immediately:
- All odd communications that you may receive via email or phone. Both of these channels are being used to gather your credentials (typically CWL username & password).
- Urgent requests for wire transfers or the purchase of gift cards (usually iTunes) where the requestor can only be reached via email – the sense of urgency, and the requirement to only communicate by email, are signals that you need to confirm by a method other than email (e.g. phone, in-person, text message) that the request is legitimate.
Be on the look-out for the following in your day to day emails:
- Sender – is the sender email legitimate (@ubc.ca vs. fake ones like: ca or ubc.com).
- Gmail Senders – Gmail accounts with the names of staff and faculty are also being used
- Content – is this typical communication that you would receive from the sender.
- URLs/Links – hover over links with your mouse to see if the email link matches what’s expected from the message. Links that don’t match may be a sign of malicious intent.
- Signature – does the sender email address match the signature – if it doesn’t look right, it could be an indicator of malicious intent.
If you have already provided your credentials to a website or opened an attachment that you are unsure about, please also contact security@ubc.ca. This may help the UBC Cybersecurity Team in identifying other victims and to identify any patterns.
As staff and faculty at UBC, it is our responsibility to keep our information and data safe. Please remain on heightened alert given the recent circumstances, and help deter any future compromises by reporting any suspicious activity to security@ubc.ca and sending a copy to Dr. Natasha Boskic, Director, Learning Design, at natasha.boskic@ubc.ca.
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