What to Do If Hacked or Suspect You Were

  • Updated

What this article covers

Threats in the form of phishing attempts are a harsh reality in today's digital world. How do you protect yourself? Everyone needs increased awareness. Information Technology Services (ITS) took steps to secure University email and remove spam from certain senders. You can take steps to improve your cybersecurity. In this article you will learn:

** FGCU will never ask for your password or other personal information by email **

 

What to do if hacked or suspect you were

1) Shut down the device
2) Contact the Help Desk immediately 

What you can do to safeguard yourself

There are THREE immediate ways you can ensure that you are vigilant in your cybersecurity efforts:

    1. ONLY approve DUO requests that YOU have initiated. If you receive a DUO request that you did not initiate, do NOT approve it. Select the red “X” to deny access to your account, then immediately change your FGCU email password. Contact the University Help Desk for assistance if necessary.
      DUO Confirmation.PNG
      IMPORTANT NOTE: Any FGCU Single Sign-On (SSO) and DUO screens are branded to visually inform you that it came from FGCU. Below is a sampling (not a comprehensive list) of our sign-in screens. If you don't recognize a sign-on screen or it seems suspicious - DO NOT SIGN IN and contact the Help Desk for clarification and safeguards.

      ** Notice FGCU logo and blue/green color scheme (except for the Microsoft dialog boxes below).

      DUO                                                                                                                                                  
      All DUO Screens.PNG
      DUO is this your device.png
      SINGLE SIGN-ON (SSO)                                                                                                                  
      All SSO Screens.PNG
      MICROSOFT                                                                                                                  
      MS Stayed Signed In.PNG
  1. Stop and look for the signs of a suspicious email! Take a breath and look for the signs of a suspicious email before clicking links, opening attachments, or responding to a sender. The graphic below points out suspicious elements of a phishing attempt via email.

  2. Set up 2-step verification on any of your personal email accounts. Please do not wait, and if you can, activate this simple yet extremely effective security measure now to protect yourself and the university.

    To set up 2-Step verification on your personal email accounts, below are a few top-rated resources:

How to safeguard yourself against a job offer phishing email

Job_Offer_Phishing_Email.png

Have you received an email similar to this about a job opportunity? Unfortunately, it is not a legitimate job offer, but a scam that could cost you money. These generally target students, but employees often receive them, too.

Scammers send job scam emails designed to trick you into applying for a job that requires you to provide personal information and potentially engage in criminal activity. Be cautious of any email that asks for your phone number and personal email.

Here are several ways to identify a job scam email:

  • The email is from a Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook address. Legitimate companies should email from their corporate email account. 
  • You are not the only recipient on the email. Legitimate companies will not send an email about a job offer to multiple people at once.
  • The email does not address you by name. The email may say your information was obtained from a job board, school database, or Career Services office. If so, they should address the email to you directly, rather than “Hello Student” or “Good Morning”.
  • The company name is a legitimate company. To make the scam more believable the email will use the name of a legitimate company. However, the person contacting you has no relationship with the company they are claiming to work for.
  • They ask to continue the conversation by text. This makes the scam harder to document. Conversations about legitimate offers should be conducted by email.
  • They ask for personal information in an email. Legitimate job opportunities require you to apply and provide your personal information in an official application, many times on the company website.
  • The email contains grammatical or spelling errors. A very common attribute of scam emails is that they do not bother to spell check or grammar check their outgoing emails.
  • There is no contact information for the sender. Any legitimate email from a company’s Human Resources or Recruiting department should have a signature line with the sender's name, title, and contact information.

 

University Help Desk: ITS Knowledge Base | Blue-Email-Icon.jpg Email Help Desk | Blue-Phone-Icon.png 239-590-1188
Monday-Friday from 7am to 11pm and Saturdays from 8am to 5pm