ITS Information Security - Phish Pond

Welcome to the Phish Pond. On this page we'll post screenshots of recently encountered real world phishing attacks.  If you need help identifying phishing, sign-up for one of our training sessions, or watch our online training session here.  As always, if you find one, report it to: PhishMeNot@holycross.edu

Fake offers - Thursday November 5th 2020

posted Nov 6, 2020, 6:28 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

Unsolicited requests or offers especially ones from addresses you don't recognize, should never be trusted.


COVID-19 Information - April 14th, 2020

posted Apr 14, 2020, 10:47 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

A popular phishing technique is selecting a current event or of annual event to send out fake announcements, alerts, or appointments for.  Taxes, elections, and even the current pandemic as seen here, look legitimate as it's a topic being actively discussed on media etc....  As always double checking the sending address and any URL's contained in the message before trusting it. 



Fake Invoice Attachment - April 9th, 2020

posted Apr 9, 2020, 7:12 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

This phish contained an attachment claiming to be an invoice due, but likely this file is malware.  Pretending to be an invoice due creates a sense or urgency.


Unsophisticated Phish - March 18th 2020

posted Mar 18, 2020, 12:51 PM by Greg Rodenhiser   [ updated Mar 18, 2020, 12:52 PM ]

This a is fairly easy phishing attempt to spot, but is a reminder to never trust links or attachments in unsolicited emails. 


Direct Deposit Phish - January 27th 2020

posted Jan 28, 2020, 8:24 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

This phish can have costly consequences.  The hope is the HR person this was sent to will reply and request the information for the direct deposit account (of course the attacker's account).  This is a great reminder to take a good look at the sending address of the message (it was NOT the employee's Holy Cross email) and follow up not using any information or reply from the message. 

Gift Card Purchase Phish - December 18th 2019

posted Dec 19, 2019, 6:56 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

The phish was crafted to look like it came from a VIP at the College, hoping the recipient would react quickly and not question it. 


Collaboration Invitation Phish - November 19th, 2019

posted Nov 19, 2019, 1:33 PM by Greg Rodenhiser

This phish tries to look like a collaboration request on for a document (transcript in this case).  The link goes to a document containing links to malicious sites posing as login pages. 


Attempting to Start a Dialog Phish - October 2nd 2019

posted Oct 2, 2019, 11:44 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

This sort of phishing technique occurs quite often.  It's always a very short and vague message and often tries to look like it came from someone at Holy Cross.  The sender's hope is to get a response and open a dialog, eventually asking for a gift card or credentials to an account. 


Important File Attachment Phish - September 16th 2019

posted Sep 27, 2019, 6:37 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

There's been an uptick in phish purporting to come from department heads or even higher that containing an attachment or link to online document.  The hope is to get the recipient to react quickly and open or link to the document.  Always double check the sending address and give thought if this message is something you would expect from the sender. 


Direct Deposit Change - September 9th 2019

posted Sep 10, 2019, 8:45 AM by Greg Rodenhiser

This is a phish purporting to be a College employee yet clearly not from a Holy Cross email address.  They are requesting a change in direct deposit in hopes the receiver will divert funds to someone else's bank account. 


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