Warning about phishing messages

Criminals are currently trying to scam university staff and students with phishing messages. Phishing messages and scam calls are commonplace these days – every student and university staff member is responsible for safeguarding information security at the university! Read the information security guidelines of the University of Helsinki and instructions regarding phishing messages. Please also regularly visit the examples of email scams page.

Phishing messages

• The scammer is usually in a hurry – some action needs to be taken immediately (e.g. changing your password).
• The links included in the phishing messages are often disguised as calendar invitations, Teams invitations, password expiry notifications etc. The messages direct you to a separate website or contain an attachment.
• Phished usernames are, among other things, often used for scam messaging. This may result in the university ending up on the spam lists of other organizations, and messages sent from university addresses will no longer be received by the message recipients.
• Do not click any links in phishing messages or open attached files!

Scam calls

• Criminals often present themselves as Microsoft help desk personnel and use an Indian accent. The calls often come from an office, and you can hear people speaking in the background. Mac users are also targeted.
• The calls may come from a number that seems to be in Finland.
• The criminals want to install remote control software on the victim’s computer. Due to information security restrictions, it is difficult to install programs on university computers, but you can easily install one on your home computer. Under no circumstances install the software on your computer!
• If you receive a scam call, hang up immediately!
• More information about scam calls is available on the website of the National Cyber Security Centre
• If you suspect that you have been scammed, contact IT Helpdesk immediately. Please note that you do not have to contact Helpdesk if you have not answered the call or suspect that you have been scammed. The university information security is aware of the situation.