Anyone can be a victim of an e-mail scam or e-mail phishing as some Iona students are quickly discovering. An increased amount of spam is creating a problem on Iona’s campus.

Vice Provost of Informational Technology and Chief Information Officer Joanne Steele said, “Many members of the Iona Community have reported receiving email from what appears to be legitimate companies, banks, the postal service, financial institutions or, in recent days, from ‘System spam.”

Scams can take on other forms than just through e-mail. While innocently browsing on the internet, suddenly a flashing or very subtle pop-up window appears on the screen. It may seem harmless, but it has many negative side effects. The advertisement may offer a great sale or deal, only under the condition that you enter in a little personal information. Some people wisely scroll their mouse to exit the window, but this scheme is persistent. Another window appears begging one to only click a box to approve of a link. Some people hastily click an option just to get it over with. Sooner or later by the time they realize the extent of the damage, it is too late. They have already been the victim of a scam.

Various news outlets have worked hard to uncover major scams. In 2009, Bernie Madoff was responsible for one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. In October 2010, ABC reported that there was a massive phone scam that exploited the good name of the Make-A-Wish Foundation out of more than $20 million.

In Jan. 2010, while the world looked for ways to help the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, reports by CNN stated that the FBI sent out a warning that there are people waiting for opportunities to set up scams for disaster relief efforts.

These cyber-attacks can be a nightmare and can happen to anyone. The Iona community should be very cautious about who they share their information.

Steele said, “There is a problem on campus with an increased amount of spam and phony e-mails.  This periodically occurs when someone falls victim to one of these scams. The victims account becomes compromised, and it enables the spammer to send thousands of e-mails out to others within and outside of Iona attempting to compromise their anyone.”