The Information Security team has identified a new phishing scam circulating among the York University community on September 10th, 2025. The email was sent from a compromised external email address using the subject line "Osgoode //Message ID:[#]..." AND "Yorku - //Supplies sign request Document Message ID:[#]" and was observed to be targeting York credentials. The […]
The Information Security team has detected a new phishing scam circulating among the York University community on August 26th, 2025. The email was sent from a compromised external email address using the subject line "Yorku Account Verification Needed", and prompts recipients to submit personal information to prevent account deactivation. The email falsely states that your […]
Please be advised that a phishing email is currently circulating from a compromised account within our organization. The email uses the subject line: Subject: ADVANCE WARNINGDate: June 8, 2025, at 1:43:49 PM EDT The message claims that your YorkU Microsoft account is set for deactivation due to retirement, graduation, or transfer. It urges recipients to […]
We have received reports from users about a new SMS phishing (smishing) scam that is impersonating York President Rhonda Lenton. The scammers are using different phone numbers to contact potential victims, including numbers from area codes 484 and 438. An example of the smishing text described is shown below for reference: This message was NOT sent by York President Rhonda […]
The Information Security team noted a targeted phishing email being circulated among the York community on December 28th, 2024. The email used the subject line "Email @ York Update" and claimed to be a notification regarding a fake mail server update. The email included a malicious link asking users to submit their York credentials in […]
The Information Security team noted multiple targeted job scam-type phishing emails being circulated among the York community on December 9th, 2024. The emails used one of the following subject lines listed below: A sample of the email and attachment is shown below for your reference: The email includes a PDF attachment and asks recipients to […]
The Information Security team noted two phishing emails being circulated among faculty & staff. The emails, titled "Sαlαry Increαse Notificαtion" OR "16.89 % Salary Increase Letter 2024-11-19", claim to be sent from York University Payroll & Employee Relations, and prompt recipients to submit personal information. Key details of the phishing email: The email falsely claims to provide salary increase information enclosed in […]
Duo has also introduced a new Self-Service Device Management (SSDM) portal to allow users to access the device management interface directly. This will allow users to add/remove devices without the help of IT/Help Desk staff. To access Duo SSDM, please visit https://yorku.login.duosecurity.com/ and login with your Passport York credentials. Once inside the portal, users will be able to add, […]
A phishing email is currently being circulated among faculty, staff, and students. The email, titled "Notification of Student/Staffs Account Deactivation", claims to be from YorkU IT Admin and prompts recipients to submit personal information to prevent account deactivation. Key details of the phishing email: The email falsely states that your York account will be disabled on October 16, 2024 unless you provide […]
As part of planned updates to York’s current Duo 2FA service, UIT will be deploying an extra layer of security through the implementation of Duo Verified Push, Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP) codes, and the Self-Service Device Management (SSDM) portal. What’s Changing? Note: Duo Verified Push only affects applications that support Universal Prompt (Passport York, Self-Service Device Management (SSDM) portal, and O365. Windows RDP and VPN are not affected […]
We have identified another targeted phishing email with the subject line "Ontario Universities Students Jobs Placement 2024 Fall Semester". The email includes a PDF attachment and asks recipients to contact hr@careers-opinionoutpost.com. Do not respond, open the PDF, or engage with the email. This is a scam aimed at financially defraud you. If you have already responded […]
We have identified a targeted phishing email sent from a compromised university account. The email includes a PDF attachment and asks recipients to contact hr@careers-opinionoutpost.com. Do not respond, open the PDF, or engage with the email. This is a scam aimed at financially defraud you. If you have already responded to this scam: Phishing email Subject: […]
York University and other organizations are experiencing an ongoing scam campaign leveraging an official Microsoft email address to send fraudulent order confirmations to users. The campaign abuses the official microsoft-noreply@microsoft.com email address to send fraudulent purchase notifications to York University's community. The objective of this scam is to get recipients to call the scammers' phone […]
A targeted phishing email with the subject lines "NOTICE BY ADMIN VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT (Please Verify your account immediately to avoid Deactivation)!!" OR "VIRTUAL PERSONAL ASSITANT JOB (REMOTE)" has been spotted. It's purpose is to trick recipients. The link redirects users to a Google Form that requests your Email Address, Password and Duo Passcode. Please note […]
Passport York uses a password strength estimator to ensure that users set strong, difficult to crack passwords for their account. This is done in order to increase the security of their various accounts at the University. The estimator analyzes passwords and assigns them a score based on their complexity. We have increased the score required […]