Be proactive in fighting spam

It takes only a few moments to report a phishing email and we encourage you to take control of your email boxes and start fighting spam. You can search online for Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre, or copy this link into your browser: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

A recent press release from the Met police confirmed that spam and phishing emails are being treated seriously. In early December, they arrested six people who were involved in one of the UK Students Loan Company fake phishing email scams. Read the full story on the Met Police website.

An explanation of a phishing email from the Action Fraud websites states:

"Phishing: any email or message which has been sent claiming to be an official body and asking for personal details, has promised rewards, prizes or shares of fortunes for small fees, or in any way has sought information which shouldn't be given away. Also, messages which have infected your computer, phone or online device via fraudulent links or other means."

No member of UCL staff will ever ask you for your password or ask you to send your password by email. Any email that does this should be considered a scam.

Our advice is that you should treat your password as you would treat the PIN number for your bank card; keep it secret and don't share it with anyone, not even your friends.

To learn more, take the UCL Computer Security training online (there is also an interactive game to help to learn to identify phishing emails).

Have an information secure new year!

UCL Computer Security Team, Information Services Division