When internet fraudsters impersonate a business to trick you into giving out your personal information, it’s called phishing. Don’t reply to email, text, or pop-up messages that ask for your personal or financial information. Don’t click on links within them either—even if the message seems to be from an organization you trust. Delete the email immediately. Some students have received phishing emails that look like they came from Blackboard. Login to Blackboard and go to that class page, which is the safest way to see new content.
Phishing scams use fraudulent emails to get users to reveal confidential information. Such emails usually look like they come from a legitimate organization such as Blackboard but contain links to illegitimate sites. Blackboard has become aware of a mass phishing scam targeting customers using Blackboard Learn. To be clear, Blackboard Learn has not been hacked — these are emails sent directly from a spammer to emails it may have harvested by spidering the institution’s websites for email addresses. More information on Phishing scams can be found on the Information Security website at: http://security.uoregon.edu/node/37.html
Below are sample emails:
Example 1: “Blackboard Article Alert”
| Purported Sender | School Articles <articles@www.blackboard.org> |
| Spoofed Origin Email | School Articles <articles@www.blackboard.org> |
| Email Subject | Blackboard Article Alert |
| Content | Hello,Your school has uploaded an article with your information tagged in the content.Please sign in immediately to review your information.Click here to sign in and review the article now
Comment/Notifications of articles that are published will be delivered to you. Black board Articles. |
Example 2: “New Course Information”
| Purported Sender | Blackboard Learn <notifications@blackboard.com> |
| Spoofed Origin Email | Blackboard Learn <notifications@blackboard.com> |
| Email Subject | New Course Information |
| Content | Good Morning,An important course form has been posted to you through the Blackboard Learning System.Please sign in immediately to view the form.Click here to sign in <–Link to malicious websiteThank you,Blackboard Learn. |
Example 3: “Blackboard Learn: Important New Course”
| Purported Sender | Blackboard Learn <email@blackboard.com> |
| Spoofed Origin Email | Blackboard Learn <email@blackboard.com> |
| Email Subject | Blackboard Learn : Important new course |
| Content | Dear Staffs/StudentsAccess to e-mail is about to expire, We recommend that you upgrade your account to avoid the suspension.Please click on the link below to re-activate your account, please sign in to Blackboard system immediately.Click here to sign in to the Blackboard System <–Link to malicious websiteThank You. © 2013 Blackboard | Technology and Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Example 4: “Notice: Important New Courses Alert.”
| Purported Sender | Blackboard Learn <email@blackboard.com> |
| Spoofed Origin Email | Blackboard Learn <email@blackboard.com> |
| Email Subject | Blackboard Learn : Important new course |
| Content | Dear MemberAccess to e-mail is about to expire, We recommend that you upgrade your account to avoid the suspension.Please click on the link below to re-activate your account, please sign in to Blackboard system immediately.Click here to sign in to the Blackboard System <–Link to malicious websiteThank You. © 2013 Blackboard | Technology and Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. |