"Phishing" Email Fraud

A common tactic in phishing emails is to pressure the recipient into acting immediately. For example, the email might say something like "We urgently need to transfer funds to company X today."

Examples:

• Your PayPal account has been locked.
• A DHL package could not be delivered.
• You have received an official notification.
• Data verification ("Your IT administration needs to check your access data. Please enter it here: ...")
• Software update prompt ("Your Outlook is outdated. Click here ...")

Phishing emails exploit your trust in well-known companies, brands, products, services, or departments at EUF; the emails you receive in their name are not actually from those companies, brands, etc.

Phishing emails are sent in the name of colleagues, superiors, or acquaintances who urge you to respond. Since these are people or institutions you know, you are compelled to trust the fraudulent email and click on the dangerous link.

Phishing emails often reference current events, like:

• Current COVID-19 measures
• A damaged car in the parking lot
• Requests for assistance by police officers
• Storm damage on campus

The urgency of the supposed event might push you to respond immediately and click on a fake link, or divulge sensitive information (like your license plate number).

Particularly effective phishing emails will also engage you on an emotional level. They might invoke sympathy, touch on your personal interests, or raise health issues.

Examples:

• A dog locked in a car during a heatwave
• A missing cat
• A death in the family

"What? It's free? I'll click on that!"

Examples:

• Free concert tickets
• Lottery tickets
• Supposed marketing campaign

Phishing emails often advise you to check the data in email attachments.

This is particularly dangerous, because these attachments can allow malware to be installed on your device. The malware can then target your data, your computer - and even the whole university network.

Examples:

• List of vacation days in Excel
• Invoices
• Vacation photos (e.g., in a ZIP file)

These file formats are particularly dangerous when sent as attachments:

• .docx and .xlsx (Word and Excel files)
• .xlsm (Excel files with executable content)
• .exe
• .zip and .rar

However, other file types can also be dangerous. Always ask yourself: Am I expecting an email with this attachment from this sender?

Be wary of any email that calls for urgent action on your part - for example, a request to change your password.

"I didn’t order any package!" - Phishing links may also be disguised as package notifications. Delete such emails if you're not expecting a package, or if you were expecting one from a different mail courier.

Examine the URL closely:

Hover over the link (without clicking) to see the actual URL in the bottom corner of your browser or email client. Look for spelling mistakes or unusual characters that could indicate a fake, phishing-related website.

Be cautious of shortened links:

Shortened URLs (like bit.ly, t1p.de, or goo.gl) obscure the real destination and are frequently used by phishers.

You might also consider using this pro tip.

We are currently seeing an increase in malicious emails. Although our systems block over 90% of these emails, please be aware that 100% protection is technically impossible. Our security measures are continuously adapting to the current threat landscape.

We recommend that you promptly delete suspicious emails. Alternatively, you can mark these emails as spam or junk by right-clicking on them. This will automatically isolate the messages by moving them to the internal Outlook junk email folder.

You are encouraged to report suspicious emails to postmaster-PleaseRemoveIncludingDashes-@uni-flensburg.de. Your reports will be used for analysis and may help us adjust our security systems so that they can detect and combat potential threats early on.

Please change your password immediately. You can find instructions for changing your password on the Access data page. Report the incident promptly to ZIMT Service so that protective measures can be taken as soon as possible.