Campus Targeted by Malicious E-mails

The campus has recently been targeted by malicious e-mails that appear to be attempts to gain user information such as passwords. One recent phishing e-mail was supposedly from “CULink Email Alert” urging account owners to submit personal information for account verification. Individuals who received this e-mail should simply delete the message.

If you or someone in your department responded to the CULink phishing attempt and entered user information, that person should contact the IT Service Center during regular business hours at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone).

Following is a sample message:

From:CULink E-mail Alert
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:08 PM
Subject: CULink Email Support (KMM1H4746FD657L0KMM).

Dear User:

CULinkCustomer Service are sorry to inform you that we are currently working on securing our server, during this process account will be manually verified by CULink, Please confirm and submit your information for manual verification.

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy online. Please read our policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you make full use of our many offerings. This policy may change from time to time so please check back periodically.

As well as some of the steps we take to safeguard information. We hope this will help you make an informed decision about sharing personal information with us.

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© Regents of the University of Colorado |

The university will never send e-mail asking for your private data (e.g. passwords, SSNs, credit card numbers, etc.) and you should be suspicious of messages that direct you to provide this information. It is also a good practice to never click on a link in an e-mail but rather open a web browser and type in the website address.

To learn more about phishing attempts and how to not fall prey to them, visit the Office of Information Technology’s Security Awareness website at http://oit.colorado.edu/it-security/security-awareness/phishing. For identity theft help and resources, visit http://oit.colorado.edu/it-security/security-awareness/privacy-identity-theft.

Although the university uses technology to block malicious emails and phishing websites, this technology is no substitute for being a conscientious Internet user. If you ever have questions about the legitimacy of a message, you are welcome to contact the IT Service Center at help@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357(5-HELP from a campus phone). Phone help is available 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.