There are many bogus chain letters, phony virus warnings, and other hoaxes circulating around the Internet these days. If these contents sound too good to be true, for example, a promise of some monetary reward, the mail is most likely to be a hoax.
Beware of unsolicited commercial e-mail called "spam" or junk e-mail. These e-mails not only fill up your mailboxes but also consumes our Internet bandwidth.
Also beware of "phishing" scams which attempt to trick recipients into following a link to a bogus website or disclosing sensitive personal information such as password, credit card or banking details.
You can take these precautionary measures to help reduce your exposure to phishing, hoaxes and unwelcome messages:
- Comply with the intended use of the University's electronic messaging system.
- Do not reply to unsolicited e-mail (including "phishing", "spam" or junk e-mail).
- Do not blindly open any attachment or click on any URL link in the email if you do not know the sender.
- Do not chain mail.
- Do not mass mail or spam.
- Disclose your e-mail address only to people you know.
- Learn how to control junk mails in your mailbox here.
- Beware of hoax e-mails. Validate the information in the e-mail first before forwarding it to your contacts.
- Review a website's privacy and security policy before registering or signing up with them.
- Report "phishing" and "spam" e-mail senders to us. The information you provide will allow us to start blocking or filtering these junk e-mails quickly before they become a nuisance to other campus users.