Identifying and Limiting Spam

Here are some tips to help you identify if an email is spam:

• Northern will NEVER ask you for any personal information such as your NMU password or Social Security Number through an email. In fact, NMU will NEVER ask for your password no matter what the circumstance could be.
• To be safe, never send any personal information over email. Over the phone is better, but in person is always the way to go.
• Never enter your information on a pop-up screen.
• To verify if links in an email are legitimate or not, move your cursor over the link to view the address used in the link. If it doesn't appear to match what the message is about don't click on it. If you are still not sure if it is legitimate contact the place of business to see if they sent it to you. 
• If the email address ends in something you do not recognize, don't trust it. If the email says that it is coming from the "Helpdesk" then it would come from helpdesk@nmu.edu. If it is coming from another email address it is most likely spam, you can get more information on this on our phishing attempts page.
• The message contains a fuzzy or illegitimate logo.
• The message shows the sender on behalf of someone, such as NMU, but does not have a legitimate NMU email address.
• The message requires you to enter a password.
• The message requires you to download a file.
• You may get emails about verifying your account or to take action quickly with a link for you to enter your information. Ignore and delete this type of email.

To avoid getting more spam emails:

• Do not sign up for services or use your email on sites that you do not trust.
• Unsubscribe from legitimate messages you no longer want, by looking at the bottom of the email for a button or link that says "unsubscribe". Do not unsubscribe from random spam or phishing emails.
• Make sure to mark the message as Spam in Gmail.

If you clicked a link you don't trust or shouldn't have and entered your information:

1. If you entered your password after clicking the link, go to myuser.nmu.edu/user immediately to change your password. Otherwise just mark the email as spam and delete it.
2. If you downloaded or saved anything from an email that was illegitimate open your "downloads" folder by opening windows explorer and selecting "downloads" located on the left hand side of that screen.
3. After you delete the item from your downloads folder, empty your recycle bin as well that way it will no longer be on your computer.