Over the past week the University has seen a sharp increase in different kinds of email scams. The most recent being an email containing phishing and other suspicious content. Staff are asked to be mindful when opening such emails.

Email recipients are often deceived by phishing attempts since messages appear to be sent by legitimate and trustworthy sources.

A recent scam email tells recipients “[Macquarie staff member's name] Share a document with you, it’s stored online using Drop Box click on this link…”. If you receive an email from a Macquarie University email address with the subject line “Send you a secure document” (or similar), please delete it.

Staff are reminded to be mindful when opening emails.

Things to look out for:

• being asked to ‘log into a system’
• being asked to enter private information
• unexpected emails from organisations (eg Australia Post or the Australian Tax Office)
• emails claiming to contain secured documents
• unexpected or unusual emails from colleagues and friends.

What to do if you think you have received such an email:

• contact the sender by phone or alternative method and ask if they sent the email
• if the email is not legitimate, simply delete it.

What to do if you think you have been compromised:

• contact your local IT support personnel or the University HelpDesk (9850 4357)

Information Technology are taking steps to identify and reduce the spread of these emails.