{"id":1540,"date":"2026-03-26T09:53:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:53:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:53:48","slug":"final-notice-student-account-verification-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/2026\/03\/26\/final-notice-student-account-verification-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFinal Notice\u201d Student Account Verification Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"304\" data-end=\"328\"><strong data-start=\"304\" data-end=\"328\">Known Subject Lines:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul data-start=\"329\" data-end=\"455\">\n<li data-section-id=\"134bron\" data-start=\"329\" data-end=\"389\"><em data-start=\"331\" data-end=\"387\">Immediate Action Needed: Account Verification Required<\/em><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"zjf3tc\" data-start=\"390\" data-end=\"455\"><em data-start=\"392\" data-end=\"455\">[Action Required] School Email &amp; Financial Aid Access at Risk<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"457\" data-end=\"673\">We\u2019re seeing phishing emails sent to students that claim your account is at risk if you don\u2019t complete a verification process. These messages are designed to create panic and trick you into clicking a malicious link.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"d2r8t1\" data-start=\"680\" data-end=\"706\">Why This Looks Real<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"708\" data-end=\"768\">Cybercriminals are getting more convincing. This email uses:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"770\" data-end=\"1209\">\n<li data-section-id=\"8ufdve\" data-start=\"770\" data-end=\"873\"><strong data-start=\"772\" data-end=\"796\">Urgency and pressure<\/strong><br data-start=\"796\" data-end=\"799\" \/>Phrases like \u201cfinal notice\u201d and a 24-hour deadline push you to act fast.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"5w6dtm\" data-start=\"875\" data-end=\"993\"><strong data-start=\"877\" data-end=\"906\">Important account threats<\/strong><br data-start=\"906\" data-end=\"909\" \/>Mentions of losing access to <strong data-start=\"940\" data-end=\"949\">email<\/strong> and <strong data-start=\"954\" data-end=\"971\">financial aid<\/strong> make it feel serious.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"iar88g\" data-start=\"995\" data-end=\"1106\"><strong data-start=\"997\" data-end=\"1027\">Official-sounding language<\/strong><br data-start=\"1027\" data-end=\"1030\" \/>Terms like \u201cin accordance with university policy\u201d make it seem legitimate.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1ykmotc\" data-start=\"1108\" data-end=\"1209\"><strong data-start=\"1110\" data-end=\"1134\">Familiar departments<\/strong><br data-start=\"1134\" data-end=\"1137\" \/>References to offices like Student Financial Services add credibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"klxuch\" data-start=\"1216\" data-end=\"1239\">Why This Is Fake<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1241\" data-end=\"1283\">Look closer and you\u2019ll spot the red flags:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1285\" data-end=\"1791\">\n<li data-section-id=\"ropt15\" data-start=\"1285\" data-end=\"1348\"><strong data-start=\"1287\" data-end=\"1307\">Generic greeting<\/strong><br data-start=\"1307\" data-end=\"1310\" \/>\u201cDear Student\u201d instead of your name.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"15jmbib\" data-start=\"1350\" data-end=\"1449\"><strong data-start=\"1352\" data-end=\"1371\">Suspicious link<\/strong><br data-start=\"1371\" data-end=\"1374\" \/>The \u201cStudent Account Verification Form\u201d is not a trusted university link.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"fx2ae9\" data-start=\"1451\" data-end=\"1566\"><strong data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1481\">Threatening consequences<\/strong><br data-start=\"1481\" data-end=\"1484\" \/>Immediate restrictions or deactivation within 24 hours is a common scare tactic.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1wfmxbg\" data-start=\"1568\" data-end=\"1705\"><strong data-start=\"1570\" data-end=\"1589\">Unusual request<\/strong><br data-start=\"1589\" data-end=\"1592\" \/>Legitimate university offices will not ask you to verify sensitive information through unsolicited email links.<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1lskhx8\" data-start=\"1707\" data-end=\"1791\"><strong data-start=\"1709\" data-end=\"1734\">Discourages follow-up<\/strong><br data-start=\"1734\" data-end=\"1737\" \/>Claims the account is \u201csend-only\u201d and not monitored.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1a8hm2w\" data-start=\"1798\" data-end=\"1822\">What You Should Do<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1824\" data-end=\"1850\">If you receive this email:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1852\" data-end=\"2023\">\n<li data-section-id=\"nyf49t\" data-start=\"1852\" data-end=\"1879\"><strong data-start=\"1854\" data-end=\"1879\">Do NOT click the link<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"dlbj4\" data-start=\"1880\" data-end=\"1921\"><strong data-start=\"1882\" data-end=\"1921\">Do NOT enter your login information<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"112wh0g\" data-start=\"1922\" data-end=\"1984\"><strong data-start=\"1924\" data-end=\"1984\">Report it immediately using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/security\/pab\/\">Phish Alert Button (PAB)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2025\" data-end=\"2059\">If you already interacted with it:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2061\" data-end=\"2163\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1vdifdw\" data-start=\"2061\" data-end=\"2099\"><strong data-start=\"2063\" data-end=\"2099\">Change your password immediately<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1wmneb1\" data-start=\"2100\" data-end=\"2163\"><strong data-start=\"2102\" data-end=\"2163\">Report it via the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/security\/pab\/\">PAB<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Additional Notes:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Remember<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0Information Technology will never text you. We will also never request your password or Duo codes,\u00a0<strong>ever<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Information Technology will\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1865\" data-end=\"1872\">not<\/strong>\u00a0ask you to verify accounts or submit passwords through unofficial forms or unexpected email links.<\/li>\n<li>Do you think you\u2019ve fallen for a scam? Did you share personal information? Downloaded malicious content? Please contact the IT Service Desk at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:973-655-7971\" class=\"\"><span class=\"a11y-phone-number initialized\" aria-label=\"9 7 3  6 5 5  79 71 \">973-655-7971<\/span><\/a>\u00a0option 1 or email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:itservicedesk@montclair.edu\">itservicedesk@montclair.edu<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Use the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/security\/pab\/\">Knowbe4 Phish Alert Button (PAB)<\/a>\u00a0to report malicious emails directly to the Information Security team for review. If you are not using the Gmail client please forward the email to\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:phishfiles@montclair.edu\">phishfiles@montclair.edu<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Always use the \u201chover over\u201d technique to check web links before clicking! For more security tips please visit our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/security\/security-tips\/\">Security Tips<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Known Subject Lines: Immediate Action Needed: Account Verification Required [Action Required] School Email &amp; Financial Aid Access at Risk We\u2019re seeing phishing emails sent to students that claim your account is at risk if you don\u2019t complete a verification process. These messages are designed to create panic and trick you into clicking a malicious link. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":1541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phishing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1542,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}