Over the break there were several sophisticated phishing campaigns targeting the campus. The Office of Information Security provides an example of a recent phishing email below, accompanied by an explanation of why it should be considered suspicious. Watch OTS Training’s video on how to identify scams. Remember to forward any suspicious email to phishing@towson.edu.
- Non-TU email address
- Numerous grammatical mistakes. Plus a new service like this would be communicated to the campus prior to implementing, especially if it is mandatory.
- TU does not maintain a cell phone database for every student, faculty and staff.
- This is tricky – the link appears to be to a legitimate TU webpage. However, in a live email, hovering over the link reveals the true destination – which in this case is actually a malicious site.
- The Office of Technology Services at Towson University refers to itself at OTS, not “IT service.”
- Inconsistent capitalization. This should read OTS and/or The Office of Information Security (OIS), which is a division of OTS.
- No reason for copyright information. OTS/OIS will always include the disclaimer: This email is being sent from the Office of Technology Services at Towson University. To validate authenticity of included links, contact the OTS Help Center at 410-704-5151. If you suspect you have received a phishing email, forward it to phishing@towson.edu.
