We all seem to have these kinds of users in our workplaces. Together with the dozens of brilliant minds who reply-all to 500+ e-mail recipients with “I think you sent this to the wrong person, I am not in the group you mention!” and then further dozens of brilliant minds reply-all with “DON’T REPLY TO ALL, YOU’RE CAUSING SPAM!”…

Obviously the PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL ENTIRELY BEFORE SENDING ME YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD was added/clarified to the screenshot, but the rest fits way too well with reality, even though this text probably is from at least 15 years ago.

Below follows an OCR version of the text:

To: Redacted users of the College Community

From: redacted e-mail

Re: Warning about Phishing Scams

We want to remind all users that we will never request your username and password via email. Please never give out your username and password. Malicious users will use this information to hijack your email account and use it to send spam. If you are ever unsure. feel free to forward the email to redacted e-mail and we will let you know what to do. If you do fall victim to such a scam. don’t despair. all you need to do is follow these instructions to reset your redacted Password and regain control of your account. Following is an example of a recent Phishing Scam that was received by one of our users.

x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

"Dear E-mail User.

It has come to our notice that most of our email accounts have been opened with unprotected browsers and PC and most Users no longer use their email accounts. This has created room for spams. bulk and unsolicitated emails. Our Help Desk want to deactivate all accounts which are believed to have been invaded by unapproved users.

To confirm that you are actually the original owner of this account. you are to send the following information to us.

Full Name:

E-mail ID:

E-mail Password:

DOB or Phone Number:

You are to click reply on your email, fill in the information and then click send. It will be automatically deliver to our helpdesk. Failure to do this within the next 72 hours. we will deactivate your account to avoid unauthorised usage.

Regards.

Abuse/Help Desk”

x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Thank you for your attention to this important matter,

redacted signature of help desk admin

------------------------- NEW MAIL: ---------------------------

To: All users of the College Community

From: redacted e-mail

Re: Phishing Scam

Earlier today I sent out a warning message about phishing with a sample phishing email. In the last five minutes I have already received the username and password of 5 redacted College Employees and 10 Students. Please note that the intended point of this message is that we will NEVER ask you for your username and password and that you should NEVER give it out.

I am sorry for the confusion.

If you need further clarification. please contact redacted helpdesk number.

redacted signature of help desk admin

---- CLARIFYING TEXT IN BOLD ADDED TO SCREENSHOT ------

PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL ENTIRELY BEFORE SENDING ME YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD

------------------------- NEW MAIL: ------------------------------

To: All users of the College Community

From: redacted e-mail

Re: NEVER Give out your username and password

I have received 3 more student usernames and passwords today. Please STOP sending me your usernames and passwords. The intent of this message is to NEVER give up your username or password to ANYONE EVER. If you are still confused, I urge you to call the JET office immediately before sending out your username and password again. If you have given your username and password to anyone since your last password reset, please follow these (linked) instructions to reset your password immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

redacted signature of help desk admin