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What is a fraudulent email?
A fraudulent (spoof) email pretends to be from a well-known company, such as PayPal or eBay, in an attempt to get personal information from you. Brooklyn Law School accounts, like all Internet email accounts, are subject to such attempts. People who send spoof emails hope to use your information, such as credit and debit card numbers or account passwords, to commit identity theft.
You can prevent spoof from affecting you
Spoof or "phishing" emails - and the spoof websites often associated with them - are deceptive in appearance. However, they contain content that reveals that they are fake. The most important way to protect yourself is to be able to spot this misleading content.
Know a spoof when you see it
Frequently, a spoof email looks something like this:
What to watch out for
- Generic greetings. Many spoof emails begin with a general greeting, such as: “Dear eBay member” or “dear brooklaw.edu user".
- A false sense of urgency. Most spoof emails try to deceive you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you do not update it as soon as possible.
- Fake links. The text in a link may appear valid, but then send you to a spoof address. Always check where a link is going before you click. Move your mouse over it and look at the URL in your browser or email status bar. If the link looks suspicious (has numbers or an altered version of the site name), don't click on it. Be aware that a fake link may even have the name of the site in it. You are better off not following a link in your email at all. Instead, surf to the company’s main site in your browser and follow the links there.
Questions e-commerce sites will never ask you in an email
To help you better identify fake emails, most e-commerce sites follow strict rules. They will never ask for the following personal information in emails:
- Credit and debit card numbers
- Bank account numbers
- Driver's License numbers
- Email addresses
- Passwords
- Your full name
Ways to fight spoof
- Report it. Forward the entire email - including the header information - or the site's URL to the e-commerce site involved. Most investigate every spoof reported. Please note that the automatic response you get from us may not address you by name.
- Turn on all security mesasures in your browser. See www.mozilla.org/security/ and www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/security/default.mspx.
- Report phishing and spam to reportspam@wee.brooklaw.edu This will mark it as spam in several national databases so that future recipients may be protected.
- Change your passwords often, both on your email accounts and on any accounts with companies with whom you do business. If you think your security may have been breached, create a new password immediately. Brooklyn Law school email accounts can be changed by clicking on the options link in webmail.brooklaw.edu.
- Use a unique passwords. Passwords should be one-of-a-kind, and not used on any of your other accounts. A good password contains letters and numbers. This makes it more difficult for people to guess it.
- Take action. If your information is compromised, get a fraud alert placed on your credit report.
This information was prepared in cooperation with PayPal, an eBay company. For additional assistance contact Information Technology at (718) 780-7507 or at support@brooklaw.edu.
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