Phishing is the act of convincing someone to surrender their private information (for example, bank account number, Social Security number and passwords) in order to commit identity theft.

Often phishing appears as spam email formatted to look like official communication from banks, eBay, or other organizations including UCF. Phishing messages typically contain a threat that an account will be disabled if the recipient does not re-enter or update their information. The phishing message usually contains a request to connect to a website or reply to the email and provide personal information.

If you believe you have inadvertently submitted information to a phishing site, immediately contact the UCF Support Center, your unit's IT staff or DSC. If you do not have an IT team, please contact the UCF Police Department, the UCF Security Incident Response Team, and review the Federal Trade Commission - Identity Theft Website.

Protect Yourself from Phishing Attempts

• Legitimate businesses do not solicit user account information through email.
• Delete all phishing email that you receive.
• Do not click on links in a phishing email.
• Do not reply to a phishing email.
• Contact the organization directly.
• Do not use any contact information listed in the suspected message.
• Open a Web browser and go directly to the website (if you know the address) or, using a trust search engine, search for the organization's website.
• Check the organization’s website for more information on phishing attacks.
• Read Spotting Spam to learn how to identify phishing spam.
• Learn more about Dealing with spam.

If you have any questions regarding any of these computer threats, contact the UCF IT Support Center or your unit's IT staff.