Phishing Examples

Phishing Example: bCourses Expiration Notice

January 25, 2017
A targeted phishing message was received on campus appearing as an expiration notice for access to bCourses. The message attempted to trick recipients to login with CalNet credentials to prevent access expiration

Phishing Example: Message from human resources

April 13, 2017
This message, appearing to come from the HR department, was successful at convincing several campus recipients to click on the link provided and enter their Calnet credentials. The link was directed to a fake Calnet login page, the account name and password entered on this page would be compromised.

Scammers Exploit California’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program

July 15, 2020
In ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Newsom launched "California Connected, " the state's contract tracing program and public awareness campaign. Malicious actors are leveraging the program to use phishing scams to exploit the public.

IRS Warning of Impersonation Attacks Targeting Universities

March 31, 2021

Mar. 31st - The Internal Revenue Service issued a warning of an ongoing IRS-impersonation scam that appears to primarily target educational institutions, including students and staff who have ".edu" email addresses. The phishing emails appear to target university and college students from both public and private, profit and non-profit institutions.

The fraudulent email displays the IRS logo and uses various subject lines such as "Tax Refund Payment" or "Recalculation of your tax refund payment." It asks people to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund....

UC Email Security Incident Notice

April 5, 2021

Updated May 11, 2021:

UCOP Notice to UC Community: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/data-security/index.html

Updated Apr. 15, 2021:

On Thursday, April 15 at 11 a.m. we hosted a town hall for the campus community on how to protect yourself against identity theft. The recording and slides are available here: https://technology.berkeley.edu/town-hall...