Phishing attacks impersonate UH administrators to lure would-be victims

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Sophisticated new phishing attacks are targeting University of Hawaii employees.

The twist: Scammers are impersonating top administrators at the institution.

In an email sent to UH employees, IT officials said the “attackers are creating free email accounts using the names of University of Hawaii officials," including UH President David Lassner.

The accounts are then used to get people to purchase gift cards.

“Very sophisticated phishing attempts are on the rise,” UH said, in its email.

“UH was recently alerted to a credential harvesting campaign where a phishing email directs the recipient to a ‘personal satisfaction survey' where a UH username and password is required to access the survey. This is not a legitimate UH survey.”

Experts say to avoid phishing attacks:

Be vigilant about protecting personal and business information.
Be careful when clicking on links.
And if you’ve been targeted by a phishing attempt or provided information, consider changing your password.