There is a new email phishing scam hitting Boston College that is trying to "fish" for your information.

Boston College will *NEVER* email or call you asking you to verify your account information or password. In fact, no REAL company would ever ask for information from you in this manner. Please know that just because an email includes BC-specific details that look familiar to you, does not make it credible.

Be wary of any emails or phone calls asking you to update or verify personal or account information, even if they appear to be from Boston College or another trusted source. Scammers are out there constantly trying to trick people into sharing private information - and can be quite convincing. Don't fall for it.

If you ever receive an email that appears to be from BC, and asks for personal information, it is a scam. Do not respond to the message, just delete it. If you want to verify that it is a scam, you can call the Help Center at (617)552-HELP.

Sample of Current Phishing Scheme Email

Below is an example of a phishing scheme recently received by Boston College community members. Notice how the scammer tries to use familiar information, like www.bc.edu, to appear credible. Don't be fooled. If you are not sure about the legitimacy of a message, call the Help Center at (617)552-HELP.

Dear bc.edu Email Account Owner,

This message is from bc.edu messaging center to all bc.edu email account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused bc.edu email accounts to create more space for new accounts.

To prevent your account from being closed, you will have to update it below so that we will know that it's a present used account.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW

Email Username : .......... .....
EMAIL Password : ................
Date of Birth : .................
Country or Territory : ..........

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Thank you for bc.edu
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ

bc.edu Team
www.bc.edu

Learn how to protect yourself from phishing

Phishing is when you receive an email that appears to be from a well-known company, but is actually attempting to steal your credit card numbers and other personal information!

• Learn  how to spot phishing emails from Citibank.
• Learn what to do, if you think your identity has been stolen from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

Learn more about fraudulent (phishing) emails, including how to spot them:

• Learn how to identify fraudulent email and phishing schemes from Microsoft.
• Read this  FTC alert about phishing.
• Learn about  one anti-phishing group.
• Read about  a minor that posed as AOL to steal credit card numbers, etc.

Learn more about identity theft:

• Learn about identity theft and fraud from the US Dept of Justice.
• Check out these identity theft resources from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
• Learn about identity theft from the Fight Identity Theft site.