Signs an email may be fake
- The email contains poor grammar or spelling errors
- The email asks for personal information, like your full name, address, or phone number
- The email is offering a job or opportunity that sounds too good to be true
- The email offers vague threats of blackmail
- It looks off in some other way
Even if an email appears to come from someone trusted, like a co-worker, professor, or student, it may not be safe. If you have received a questionable email, please DO NOT RESPOND to the message. In Google Mail, it is possible to mark the email as phishing or you can add a message to your spam filter for unwanted messages by clicking the “Report Spam” button. Please note that OIT does not typically send campus announcements for individual cases of phishing.
If you've already responded to the message by clicking on any link and entering your login and password, it is advisable to do the following.
- Visit http://oitportal.uah.edu and reset your password to a new and complex value that only you know (a unique, long, and complicated password is always best - over 8 characters with a mixture of letters, number, and with mixed case).
- Check your accounts to make sure no one has logged into them and made changes.
If you're ever unsure of the legitimacy of an email, err on the side of caution and do not provide any information. Instead, contact the individual in question in person or over the phone to verify the email or forward the email OIT Help Desk at helpdesk@uah.edu for more assistance.