If you are seeing this, you clicked on a link in a message claiming there was a problem with your voter registration. That email was part of an exercise conducted by SAS Computing and Penn’s Office of Information Security (OIS).
We want to help you to better identify phishing attempts and think twice before following suspect links that could lead to a malicious website or fake login page designed to trick you into revealing sensitive information.
Penn has been increasingly targeted by phishing campaigns intended to lure you into entering your login credentials to access some kind of “important” document. Scammers will take advantage of current events or annual academic and budget cycles to appear more timely and relevant. These messages can take a variety of forms, such as:
- Urgent, but vague, health warnings or virus exposure alerts
- Notifications about annual raises or changes to payroll deadlines
- Unexpected, but seemingly innocuous, attachments (forms, reminders, invoices, etc.)
- Official correspondence from school leadership (e.g. department chairs or the university president)
Often, the source of these messages is further obscured by the copying (or “spoofing”) of your own address as both sender and recipient. This should be a major red flag; if you didn’t send the email to yourself, assume it is fraudulent. Any legitimate message should display the actual sender in the “From” field.
A link or attachment provided on a phishing message might lead you to a very passable copy of Penn’s PennKey login page. The only telltale sign could be that the website address does not start with https://weblogin.pennkey.upenn.edu (although it may end with it). For more information on how to spot fake login pages, see:
https://computing.sas.upenn.edu/infosec/protectyourpennkey
Never enter your login credentials on an unknown website (hover over the link to check the URL). If you have any concerns about whether a message is genuine, check with the sender by another means besides email, such as by phone (in case their account has been compromised) or ask your LSP before clicking on any links. Your LSP is always happy to help answer any questions you may have about suspicious emails or links!
For more tips on protecting your data and accounts, see:
