University Police have received recent reports from students who experienced scam attempts through their email addresses. Specifically, emails that appear to come from a faculty member are sent inquiring about interest in working as a personal assistant and asking for ID numbers and contact information. Be cautious of requests like this. Once the scammer has your phone number, they may ask you to deposit checks and purchase gift cards for them. Do not respond to these requests. If you suspect you’ve received a phishing attempt, forward the email as an attachment to UIT at phish@utah.edu and U Police at uupd-tips@utah.edu.

Follow these email best practices from Information Technology to avoid phishing attacks:

• Do not click on links or attachments from senders you do not recognize
• Do not provide sensitive personal information (like usernames, and passwords) over email, ever
• Watch for email senders who use suspicious or misleading domain names
• Inspect URLs carefully to make sure they are legitimate and not imposter sites
• Do not try to open any shared document that you are not expecting to receive
• Be especially cautious when opening attachments

More about phishing practices can be found here.