{"id":1414,"date":"2026-01-21T08:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:37:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:37:38","slug":"phishing-from-1-20-2026-action-required-account-verification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/the-phish-tank\/1414","title":{"rendered":"Phishing from 1\/20\/2026: Action Required: Account Verification&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Original Phishing Message<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/files\/2026\/01\/1-20-2026-mailbox-deactivation-phish-1024x464.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/files\/2026\/01\/1-20-2026-mailbox-deactivation-phish-1024x464.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/files\/2026\/01\/1-20-2026-mailbox-deactivation-phish-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/files\/2026\/01\/1-20-2026-mailbox-deactivation-phish-768x348.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/files\/2026\/01\/1-20-2026-mailbox-deactivation-phish.png 1158w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Tips for Detection<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Notice the urgent language threatening to shut down a service. This is typical of phishing emails and is a ploy to trick you into taking quick action without closely examining the request. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hovering over the link reveals that it leads to a suspicious website fixverify-kzlxv1e5mb[.]edgeone[.]dev\/index204. Always investigate links before clicking on them and do not enter your credentials on websites you do not recognize.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Though the sender&#8217;s email address looks legitimate since they spoofed the university&#8217;s email domain, other indicators, including the branding\/language should be suspicious. When in doubt, contact the Technology Service Desk if you are not sure about the legitimacy of an email. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Text of Phishing Message<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mailbox Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear [<em>username<\/em>],<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to security reasons, We are closing all old versions and non-active users for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please confirm your email address to keep your account from being deactivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kindly click on the verify button below to verify your mailbox address, so as to avoid termination of your mailbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT NOW<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Failure to verify might lead to constant interruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks<br>pugetsound[.]edu mailbox Security team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Original Phishing Message Tips for Detection Text of Phishing Message Mailbox Security. Dear [username], Due to security reasons, We are closing all old versions and non-active users for 2026. Please confirm your email address to keep your account from being deactivated. Kindly click on the verify button below to verify your mailbox address, so as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":1415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-phish-tank","tag-phishing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1416,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions\/1416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/infosec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}