Recognizing Hoaxes and Scams

Hoaxes and scams usually arrive by e-mail in the form of spam or bogus virus or vulnerability warnings, promotions or rewards that sound too good to be true

A lot of hoaxes and scams contain phrases such as:

• “If you receive an e-mail titled [virus hoax name], do not open it! Delete it immediately!”
• “This virus was announced today by” (reputable organization name specified here, such as Microsoft or IBM)
• “Forward this warning to everyone you know!”

Also beware of e-mails that:

• have multiple > > > > > signs in front of each line
• are e-mail chain letters offering you money for passing on the message

Your best option is to simply delete the e-mail. If something looks odd or doesn't seem quite right, it probably isn't. Check out the list of hoaxes from Symantec to see if something you received is a known hoax.

Spam: Unsolicited Commercial E-mail

To learn more about spam and other junk e-mail, visit the SCSU Spam Solution site.

To learn more about a particularly dangerous version of spam called phishing, where fraudulent e-mail messages seek your personal information such as banking or other account information, please visit the HuskyNet phishing page.