Latest phishing scam appears to know your address

07 Apr 2016

IT Services are aware of a phishing scam circulating which can appear convincing enough to include your address.

Some staff members have received a phishing email, similar to those reported by BBC news yesterday:

• Phishing email that knows your address (links out to BBC news)

As with any email system, malicious messages occasionally manage to get past our mail filters. These often contain harmful attachments or website links. If these attachments or links are opened, they may pose a risk to your computer or the University network, spreading infections and in some cases hacking accounts and systems.

If your computer becomes infected, this could have implications for:

• Private University information
• The safety of your IT account or computer
• Your own personal information, including login details for your bank, social media or shopping sites.

In order to keep our University network safe we will be blocking JavaScript in emails, just as we block other potentially malicious content.

Please stay vigilant and forward any suspicious emails to the IT phishing email address immediately:

• phishing@listserv.manchester.ac.uk
• How to add malicious emails as attachments

If you have any general queries or concerns, please contact the IT Support Centre or visit our Cyber Security pages:

• 0161 306 5544 (or extension 65544)
• IT Support Centre online
• Cyber Security webpages