Anatomy of an email phishing scam

 

Chief information security officer Rich Tener was one of numerous Iowa State faculty, staff and students who received an email as part of a phishing scam during the month of June. Shared on this page are four of the fake messages or websites used in the scam.

 

Phishing email

#1. The first phishing email claimed your email would be terminated if it's not verified.

 

Information site

#2. Scammers collected individuals' name, phone number, emails and passwords using a fake website.

 

Text

#3. Scammers sent a text directly to people to get the Okta code and gain access to their email account.

 

Job scam

#4. A fake email offered a job to individuals who subsequently received a fake check and purchased gift cards they sent to the scammers.