Don't Be A Victim of Scams:
Be alert for email scams. These may appear to come from a trusted business or friend, but actually are designed to trick you into downloading a virus or going to a fraudulent website and disclosing sensitive information.
Don't reply to any email that requests your personal information. Be very suspicious of any email from a business or person that asks for your password, social security number, or other highly sensitive information.
Do business only with companies you know and trust.
Be aware! Phony "look alike" websites are designed to trick consumers and collect their personal information. This latest scam is called "Phishing". Visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group website for additional information on Phishing. Make sure that websites on which you transact business post privacy and security statements, and review them carefully.
Do not open email with attachments that you are not expecting. Verify from the sender that the attachment is valid. Even a friend may accidentally send an email with a virus. Save the attachment to your hard drive and run a virus scan on the file before opening.
Be careful before clicking on a link contained in an email or other message. The link may not be trustworthy.
Do not send sensitive personal or financial information unless it is encrypted on a secure website. Regular emails are not encrypted and are more like sending a post card. Look for the padlock symbol on the bottom bar of the browser to ensure that the site is running in secure mode BEFORE you enter sensitive information.
Use strong passwords or personal identification numbers (PINS) for your Internet accounts. Choose passwords that are difficult for others to guess, and use a different password for each of your accounts. Use both letters and numbers and a combination of lower case and capital letters if the passwords or PINS are case sensitive. Check out the Minimum PassPhrase (Password) Standard that was implemented October 16,2004 for detailed information on selecting strong passwords.
Make sure your computer has the most current anti-virus software. Antivirus software is installed on all campus computers that are configured by ITCS. You can obtain antivirus software from from the ITCS website. Always use the latest version of the software and update the definitions daily before retrieving your email.
