As a user of the Internet, NSU's Intranet (NSUnet), and other businesses which require you to maintain personal account information (e.g. Yahoo password or TTCU password for online banking); spoofs , hoaxes , and phishers are a few ways you are encouraged to divulge your personal account information.

Another method, which is still used because it works, is the phone call from someone claiming to be a member of a specific company's computing support or other department.  This person will eventually ask for your personal account information.   A couple of the standard excuses for needing this information are - confirming your information, updating the company records, or problems with your account.

DO NOT GIVE YOUR "PERSONAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION " TO ANYONE!

NSU / Computing & Telecommunications (C&T) WILL NOT call or e-mail you asking for your NSU Password or NSU PIN.

DO NOT GIVE YOUR "PERSONAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION " TO ANYONE!

Definitions

spoof - (v.) To fool. In networking , the term is used to describe a variety of ways in which hardware and software can be fooled. IP spoofing , for example, involves trickery that makes a message appear as if it came from an authorized IP address . Webopedia

hoax - an untrue,  invalid, or outdated email message written to convince the recipient to send the message to others. Hoaxes may be recognized by examining the technical sounding but incorrect language and by the recipient. These are related to email chain letters which usually contain a hook, a threat, and a request (to forward the message or even send money). Quinsigamond Community College

phishing - (fish´ing) (n.) The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information. Because it is relatively simple to make a Web site look like a legitimate organizations site by mimicking the HTML code , the scam counted on people being tricked into thinking they were actually being contacted by a legitimate institution and were subsequently going to the legitimate institution's site to update their account information. By spamming large groups of people, the "phisher" counted on the e-mail being read by a percentage of people who actually had listed credit card numbers with the institution legitimately.
Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding , is a variation on "fishing," the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting.
Other forms : phish (v.) Webopedia