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  5. Phishing: Examples

Phishing: Examples

  • This is not the signature used by University Technology.
  • Notice the grammar problems with random capital letters.
  • The two references in the From field are not legitimate titles.
  • Case Western Reserve University does not refer to itself as Case.
email signature with grammar errors, uneven upper case letters and CASE in the From field

  • ‌The From: email address is "spoofed" (forged) so that it appears that the email was sent by you, the recipient. This tactic is commonly used by spammers in an effort to circumvent Spam filters. This is NOT an indication that your CWRU email account is compromised.
  • Be wary of unsolicited job offers for paid participation in "focus groups", surveys, work at home, being a mystery shopper, administrative assistant or bookkeeper.
  • Do not click any links in this email. Do not click Unsubscribe.  Clicking the unsubscribe link on this Spam email will tell the spammer that you have read their message, and will likely prompt them to send you more spam (not less).
  • Please see this link for information how to discern fraudulent job postings: https://students.case.edu/career/resources/tips/safejobsearch.html
Example of a spooed email address where it appears to have been sent by the recipient

  • Notice the grammar problems with random capital letters and sentence structure.
  • The two references in the From field are not legitimate titles.
example of a bogus student job offer with bad grammar, random upper case letter and illegitimate "From" field titles

  • This is not the signature used by University Technology.
  • Notice the grammar problems with random capital letters (misuse of tense and sentence structure)
  • The reference in the From field is not a legitimate title
  • Notice the title of the email is incorrect
phishing example with an incorrect email title, poor grammar and sentence structure, an illegitimate "From" field and a signature not used by UTech

From: 

Date: June 8, 2016 at 3:18:42 AM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Unexpected Signing in Attempt.Date:08:06:2016

From: IT Help Desk.
Case ID:CWRU18920CW
Subject: Unexpected Signing in Attempt.


Kind Attention,
We have detected an unusual sign in to your email account.
Sign-in details:
Country/region: Australia
IP address: 168.1.53.206
Date: 08:06:2016 11:14 PM (GMT)
Your account will be suspended from our database if you do not verify
your account. Provide the below information for verification.

Email:
CWRU ID:
Password:
Confirm Password:
Phone Number:

Note: you will receive a code on your phone from Case Western Reserve
University once the above information are provided.
Sincerely,
© 2012 Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, Ohio 44106.

  • The "view document" link (removed in this example) does not match a Dropbox link
  • The message contains several grammatical errors, such as the lack of punctuation
  • The use of "kindly" is not typically used in communications of this type
Dropbox screen with a bad "view document" link, several grammatical errors and bad punctuation along with unconventional language such as "kindly"

  • The sender is "CWR University," which is not a common way by which to refer to Case Western Reserve University
  • The grammar and sentence structure are suspect
  • University Technology will direct you to type help.case.edu into the address bar of your web browser if account action is needed of you; refrain from clicking links in emails
Screenshot featuring "CWR University", poor grammar and sentence structure

Human Resources will direct you to type case.edu/hcm/ into the address bar of your web browser if action is needed by you; refrain from clicking links in emails

example featuring hr links in email

  • "Service Desk" is not used as the signatory for messages sent from University Technology at Case Western Reserve
  • University Technology will direct you to type help.case.edu into the address bar of your web browser if account action is needed of you; refrain from clicking links in emails‌
example featuring "Service Desk" in signature and links in the email itself