My lovely refund

WOW!  I'm eligible to receive a tax refund of $620.50! 

I know this because an email arrived in my personal inbox last Thursday from "The Internal Revenue Service" telling me to click on the link in the message.  Evidently I need to submit a request for the refund and provide this agency with personal information.  This message also warns me that, should I input the wrong information, I may be "criminally pursued and indicated."  What? 

THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF SPAM PLAGUING EMAIL USERS TODAY.

US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team), researches and warns against potential cyber-threats.  They released an article on April 24 describing the very message that I had received.  The best bit of advice offered by the team is not to follow web links in email messages that haven't been solicited.  As well, they have created several documents to assist users in wise computing practices:

• Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams
• Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
• Suspicious Emails and Identity Theft

If you have received a message like this, please do not follow the directions in the message.  You're always welcome to call the Help Desk to discuss any concerns you have about suspicious emails.  It is NOT necessary to forward messages to us that you believe carry infected attachments.  =)

~staci