Pitt Information Technology is aware of an Office 365 phishing scam targeting the University of Pittsburgh community. The scam claims that all the recipient’s emails will be deleted unless they update their Office 365 account. The email contains a link that takes recipients to a harmful website that attempts to collect their Pitt credentials. The scam typically uses “PITT VALIDATE NOW” as its Subject. 

The following is a sample of the scam. Pitt IT is contacting individuals who received the scam and advising those who may have provided their credentials to change their University Computing Account password immediately.

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Subject: PITT VALIDATE NOW

Our records indicate that your office 365 has two different logins with two universities' portals. Kindly indicate the two info logins as soon as possible. To avoid termination within 24hrs, we expect you to strictly adhere and address it.

We will process your request shortly; You will lose all your emails associated with this account.

If you have only one college account, fill in the correct user and passcode and submit. But if you are in a dual credit college, Please fill the correct username and password for both schools and submit.

If you have no knowledge about the request process, kindly update to cancel the request below.

Copy and paste the URL Below into the address bar of your web browser to cancel the request. (URL redacted)

Thank you!
©Microsoft2023

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Additional guidance for spotting phishing scams is available on Pitt IT’s website.

Pitt IT strongly recommends that you do not reply to unsolicited emails or emails from unverifiable sources. If you were not expecting to receive such an email, confirm with the sender prior to interacting with the message. If you must interact with the message, avoid clicking on links contained in such emails. These may lead to sites that contain malicious software, or sites that attempt to steal your credentials. If a link looks suspicious, you can hover over the link with your mouse to preview the URL without clicking on it.

In addition, Pitt IT recommends that all students, faculty, and staff install an antivirus solution for personal devices. Staff and faculty should be using Microsoft Defender to protect University-owned devices.

Please contact the Technology Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.