Local College Attacked In New 'Vishing' Scam - NBC10.com - 03 Jun 2008

PHILADELPHIA -- Local college students are getting a lesson in phishing.
Students and faculty at Temple University have fallen victim to online scams set up by computer hackers.

Since April, anyone who uses Temple's Internet account has received five emails that initially warned users about a phishing scam but now a "vishing" scam has attacked the system.
"Computer security says this one went to 300 or 400 people we caught it quickly and we were able to block emails," Ken Ihrer, Temple University's computer security chief, said.

Ihrer said the 'vishing' scam popped up last Thursday morning. Ihrer said he believes the scam originated on the West Coast.

He said it's similar to a phishing scam, but requires you to make a phone call or use your voice, hence the term 'vishing'.

"It asks you to call an 800 number and in this case they wanted you to enter in your credit card data similar to when you get a new credit card," Ihrer said.

"In the past four years I've been here, there's always a new attack and new way to try and get our information This one I haven't heard of before," Mike Giambra, a Temple graduate student, said.

It's the fifth time since April, Ihrer has warned Temple's 66,000 email users about such Internet scammers.

Initially users were asked to confirm their personal information or their account would be disabled. The first phishing email was traced to a Palestinian account, but originated off the coast of West Africa. Seventy-five users replied and the information of 24 people was illegally used.
"It's just an added concern. We have a plethora of other things to be concerned about and to have this added is unnecessary," Thamar Petit, a Temple student, said.
"It's gets frustrating," Sandi Thompson, a Temple librarian, said.

In the latest scam, Ihrer said he has no way of knowing who replied to the vishers or whose information was compromised. But Ihrer said even though he's locking accounts and urging all users to create new passwords, fighting back is an incredible challenge.

"We find accounts, we shut them down and they just go to the next three or four they've found and phish them," Ihrer said.

Ihrer said he believes universities are under attack because of the diverse population from people who rarely use computers to PhDs in computer science. The university is developing an awareness campaign.

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