Re: Degreedup.org - phishing scam or just junk mail?

[Harvard Townsend <harv () KSU EDU>]

We get many of these too. I agree it smells phishy, but a quick search of .edu's showed that it's
listed on many higher ed financial aid websites under "Other Scholarships" or "Outside Scholarships."
I think I would still steer students away from it. How many scholarship applications require you to
"write or type and print the following sentence 25 times, 'I will not stop and I will not quit until I am 
degreed up!" They also claim monthly awards and announce the winners, but no winners are
listed at the moment. Maybe it's a ploy to get people to buy stuff from their "store" (degreedup.com)?
How much you want to be that the "free product of your choice for the first 15 applicants each month"
 requires you to pay a shipping and handling fee?
--
Harvard Townsend
Chief Information Security Officer
Kansas State University
Email: harv () ksu edu,  Voice: 785-532-2985


On Apr 30, 2012, at 9:45 AM, Jeff Giacobbe wrote:

> Greetings-
>
> Just testing the wind on this one... Our campus seems to get regular
> monthly 'spam' from an outfit called DegreedUp.org offering scholarship
> applications (for a small fee of course)
>
> I'm trying to determine if this is just your run-of-the-mill unsolicited
> junk mail or if it moves into phishing scam territory.
>
> I can provide a copy of the emails we've received privately if anyone is
> interested.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff Giacobbe
> Associate Vice President Enterprise Technology Services
> Montclair State University
> <giacobbej.vcf>