Dear Colleague,
We’ve received reports of suspicious emails from individuals claiming to be currently enrolled students and requesting access to bCourses sites. The reason for attempting to gain access to course materials seems unclear and the requests have come from both @berkeley.edu addresses and personal accounts like @gmail.com. Please remember that even if an email comes from a legitimate @berkeley.edu address, the sender may misrepresent their relationship to the campus when seeking access, so these requests should be evaluated carefully.
To protect your course and your students:
- Verify identities: Ensure the requester is who they claim to be before granting access.
- Be vigilant with auditors: Confirm their legitimacy through established communication channels if you allow auditors. See Policy for Auditing Courses at UC Berkeley.
- Look for known examples: Phishing emails received on campus are posted for educational purposes. Check out the campus Phish Tank.
- Report suspicious emails: If you aren’t sure about an email, forward it to phishing@berkeley.edu.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for helping keep our systems secure. Wishing you a successful start to the spring semester.
Sincerely,
Oliver O’Reilly, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Tracy Shinn, Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer
This message was sent to instructors and graduate student instructors campus-wide.