Detecting Suspicious Emails

ITSD has noticed a spike in suspicious emails to the College and would like to briefly remind staff, faculty, and students about how to recognize and best deal with spam and phishing messages.

Spam emails are unsolicited messages that sneak into your inbox and include:

·  Messages full of garbled or text in a foreign language

·  Unwanted foul or nasty language

·  Bogus business deals or free product offerings

·  Prescription drug specials

An easy clue for spotting spam emails is that they tend to be sent from unfamiliar emails addresses. The spam filtering at Babson is good, but there are people across the globe distributing billions of fraudulent emails on a daily basis and eventually some get through. If you receive a spam message in your inbox, first forward it to , and then delete the message.

Phishing emails are trickier to detect as the person or entity sending them is trying to extract personal information. At first glance, these messages appear to be from a legitimate source, but a closer inspection usually reveals numerous flaws. Signs of these types of emails include:

·  Poor grammar and inconsistences in what’s asked.

·  Receiving a completely unexpected message, as in asking for personal info about an airline ticket when you don’t expect to be traveling.

·  Asking for you to reply with a username and password. You should NEVER reply to an email with user information.

·  Links in the email that don’t relate to the message. An email from Bank of America that instructs you to click on www.boatsandmore.com or links that appear to be valid, but when you hover the move over them, display a completely different site.

·  Language in the email that repeatedly asks you to click on a link.

When recognized, phishing emails can simply be deleted, but if you’re unsure about it, you can forward it to ITSD and we’ll help you out.

Remember, when in doubt, don’t click on a link or open an attachment if you’re not sure about its credibility.

If you have any questions, please contact the Service Center at x4357 or via email at

Babson College IT Service Center

(781) 239-4357 (HELP)
Answers 24 Hours 7 Days a week:
answers.babson.edu