Wake Forest University

Phishing

Phishing scams are emails or other messages that appear to come from a known sender, but are actually sent by hackers or other dangerous entities. Phishing emails often ask a user to click on a fraudulent link, or request personal information such as a password or banking information.

Phishing scams are increasingly prevalent. Although a number of emails are flagged for phishing by Google, some suspicious messages have the potential to circumvent filters. We have created this page to share with you some of the recent phishing scams currently in circulation. 

Recent Phishing Scams

a letter on a computer with a magnifying glass looking at it

Did You Receive an Email from Brightly?

Fellow students have recently reported receiving phishing emails offering post-graduation internship opportunities for employment or Honor Society membership. Some of these emails even appear to come from a wfu.edu email address. 

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Thief with a fishing pole linked to a woman's laptop, indicating he is phishing for her data

Protect yourself from tax season scams

It is tax season, time to be on high alert for email and phone phishing scams. Each year people lose their personal information and their money to these scams, particularly during tax season. Learn how to stay safe!

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image of a cyber criminal with a fishing pool attempting to catch a file of personal data

New InfoSec videos now available

Just in time for the holidays, when phishing scams really ramp up! Our new videos offer some great tips on internet safety. Be sure to take a moment to stay informed and keep you and your data safe this holiday season.

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hand holding a cell phone that reads scam likely

Scam Claiming to be Sharing a File from WFU Leadership

Phishing scams are very prevalent this fall! Most recently there have been instances where members from our Wake Forest community have been contacted by someone sharing a document that appears to be owned by someone from our WFU Leadership and cc’ing a number of WFU colleagues.  Be sure to scrutinize message content, as well as…

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computer with hand reaching out to grab cash and personal info

Email Scam Claiming to be WFU Payroll

There have been a handful of instances where members from our Wake Forest community have been contacted by someone claiming to be from WFU Payroll regarding a payroll error and requesting communication.  Be sure to scrutinize message content, as well as the source, before responding to the sender or interacting with embedded links and/or attachments.…

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Do not become a phishing victim: 

  • Never provide your personal information in response to urgent emails, text messages or phone calls that instruct you to click a link to confirm your payment or enter more information 
  • View your Wake Forest email in the Gmail web interface or Gmail app on your mobile device to leverage warning banners across suspicious messages. 

Learn more!