A University-wide e-mail was sent out this week to warn students, faculty, and staff about a scam circulating around the University network.

Bob Bartlett, director of enterprise network services and security at NSIT, and Steve Wroblewski, president of the Credit Union at the University of Chicago, announced that several members of the University community have received e-mails falsely claiming to be from the Credit Union. The e-mails state that the Credit Union is “administering its system” and asks for personal information, such as names, addresses, PINs, and credit card numbers.

“This is a scam,” said Bartlett and Wroblewski, who emphasized that the Credit Union at the University of Chicago never asks for this information by e-mail, and additionally never asks for one’s PIN by e-mail or telephone.

The two identified this scam as an example of “phishing,” a type of internet fraud which uses counterfeit e-mails and websites to elicit consumers’ personal identity and financial account data. They related that these e-mails to the University may include actual graphics taken from the Credit Union’s website or may refer to a nonexistent “U of C Federal Credit Union.”

Users are asked to ignore such e-mails and to visit “What’s New!” at the Credit Union’s website (cuuc.org) for more information.