We wrote about this before, but apparently not everyone was paying attention. Several Cornellians again fell victim to a phishing scam that conned them into revealing their NetID passwords. Scammers used those passwords to send thousands of spam e-mails through Cornell mail servers, and as a result several large Internet service providers, including juno, netzero, bluelight, frontiernet and msn, blocked or delayed mail from Cornell, and other outgoing mail from Cornell was slowed by the overload.

The scammers used a perfect replica of Cornell's standard login screen. You expect to see that screen when you log in to WhoIAm and other campus services. But if you receive an e-mail claiming to be from a Cornell department that takes you to such a screen, think twice. Cornell Information Technologies won't ask you to log in that way. If there's the slightest doubt ask your tech support provider or call the helpdesk at 5-8990.

If your NetID is used to send spam, CIT may block it by scrambling your password. You will need to go to the CIT HelpDesk in 119 Computing and Communications Center (CCC) or call the helpdesk to get a new password.

If you suspect your password may have been compromised, go to https://netid.cornell.edu. Change your password to a new one you have not used before, and change your security questions. If the bad guys knew your password they could read your security questions, and after you change your password they can use the security questions to get the new password. Then, please send an email to security@cornell.edu to report that your password may have stolen and that you have changed it.