Over the past two weeks a new e-mail scam has reared its head on campus. Scammers use contact information, available on the internet, to target individuals at the university.
One example is an e-mail which has been sent to various staff at the Finance department with a request to transfer money. (see e-mail with inactive addresses below)
The e-mail is sent from a gmail address, but the display name is a SU staff member’s name. Since the cyber criminal also saw the contact person’s name on the website (in this case Finance’s website), they address the receiver personally as, for example, Karin.
Similar scams use fax numbers available on the internet and then a fax is sent directly to the contact person.
Do not, under any circumstances, react to these e-mails. It is clearly an attempt to attract your attention and convince you to conduct a financial transaction. Delete and ignore the e-mail.
Report suspicious e-mail to sysadm@sun.ac.za and also read our articles on security on our blog, as well as the fortnightly newsletter, Bits & Bytes.
FROM: Stellenbosch University staff member name<example@gmail.com>
TO: Stellenbosch University staff member name<example@sun.ac.za>
Karin,
Let me know if you can process a same day domestic bank transfer to a client. You will code it to professional services
The amount is R870,000, kindly confirm so i can forward the appropriate beneficiary details to enable instant clearance.
Regards
Sent from my iPhone
Tags: phishing, spear phishing