Audience
All UNC Faculty, Staff, Students and Affiliates using outlook.unc.edu
Definitions
Spam, or junk mail, is unsolicited email that tries to sell you a product or service, such as the “latest and greatest” diet pill or some form of “cutting edge, high-quality” software. Spammers send their messages to hundreds, thousands or even MILLIONS of email addresses at once with the hopes that at least a few people will respond.
Phishing email, on the other hand, is a specific type of spam that tries to trick you into giving your personal information, like your Login ID and Password or credit card number. Phishing messages usually have a threatening tone in an attempt to fool you into thinking something bad will happen if you don’t respond. For example, the message might say something along the lines of “if you don’t provide your login ID and Password immediately, your account will be deleted!”. Supplying a phisher with your information puts your personal information at risk.
Procedure
With the increase in spam and phishing emails (descriptions below) we want to remind users of the appropriate method for reporting these to the proper UNC department.
Please do not send emails for evaluation to IET staff members.
To report suspected spam or phishing emails, please follow the procedure outlined here (sign into help.unc.edu first)