UTS - Alerts

Recent phishing emails - December 2025

Over the past month, phishing emails have been an increasing concern for the university. Several emails have been sent impersonating staff members to deceive other employees into logging in to fraudulent portals with their university credentials and multi-factour authentication. The goal is to harvest these credentials to gain unauthorized access to the university's IT systems and data.

In addition, scammers are impersonating students to obtain their personal information and gain unauthorized access to students' accounts and the university's services. 

The university’s email system filters and blocks a large volume of spam and phishing emails, but no IT system is completely foolproof. As a result, some malicious emails still get into users' inboxes. 

Remember, a phishing attack only succeeds if we take the action the hacker is hoping for. Think and be sure before you act!

Below are the titles of some recent phishing emails:

• NEIU Updated Staff Awards List  

• Employee Coverage Review

• Item shared with you: "Yоur Dеbt Nоtificаtiоn Аrrivеd|— Sеttlе Immеdiаtеly!

• Staff Service Awards

• Performance Report

• Employee Recognition Award Notice- Action Required

• Urgent Notice On Health Insurance Status

• Providing refined update as per schedule

• Health Concern Advisory 

This list continues to grow as hackers devise new ways to convince their targets to act on phishing messages. 

University Technology Services continues to monitor these events and alert the university community.

How to recognize phishing emails

Identifying phishing emails is easy. Even if an email appears to come from a known person, always check for the following indicators:

• It is urgent
• It is random
• It is appealing
• It creates fear
• It asks you to verify yourself by logging into a web page (a fake NEIU web portal)
• It has an an attachment to download
• It asks for favors or assistance with making purchases, especially during the holiday seasons
• Makes you feel good about responding because it is benevolent, or important because the the request is coming from a “management staff”

Hackers’ goals are to make us act impulsively. However, if we take time to check the messages for these indicators and ask questions, we will not fall victim to their scams.

Immediate steps to take when you receive a suspicious email

• Do not click or download attachments in the email

• Do not click on the links in the email

• Check for the indicators listed above

• Check the sender’s email address and signature. Sometimes, hackers use fake email addresses but use legitimate or familiar names in the email signatures

• Select the three vertical dots beside the reply icon in the phishing email and report it as phishing or forward it to abuse@neiu.edu

Immediate steps to take if your user account is compromised

• Change your account password

• Check your multi-factor app notifications for fraudulent requests

• Contact the IT-ServiceDesk@neiu.edu immediately for support

Learn more about phishing and how to protect yourself and the university.