Scam alerts

Criminals continually try to scam us via email, postal mail, text and phone. Learn how to help protect yourself by learning how to recognize and report phishing, and by checking this page for alerts about scam emails.

If you’ve recently received an email to your @wisc.edu account and are unsure whether it’s real or a scam, you can check it against the scam alerts subject lines table in this page.

On this page

Scam alert messages

Beware of these scams!

  • NEW email scam targeting faculty

    NEW email scam targeting faculty

    UW–Madison faculty members are being targeted by a new phishing scam. Please be sure to report all suspicious-looking emails.

  • Scam posing as faculty & staff recognition awards

    Scam posing as faculty & staff recognition awards

    Please be aware of a current phishing scam that poses as a year-end financial recognition award. Be sure to report all suspicious-looking emails.

  • Watch for scams targeting faculty

    Watch for scams targeting faculty

    The scammer starts by asking to discuss your work. Then, once a relationship is established, they try to convince you to “invest” or transfer money. Learn what these scams look like —…

  • Beware of scams involving job offers, fake checks

    Beware of scams involving job offers, fake checks

    Job scams like this one are on the rise: You respond to an email job offer. Your “employer” sends you a (fraudulent) check that’s too much money, with instructions about how to…

  • Avoid Workday phishing scams

    Avoid Workday phishing scams

    Now that Workday is here, we expect to be targeted by phishing attacks. We are counting on you to help keep UW secure by detecting and reporting phishing attempts. Brush up on…

More news ​ ​

Scam email subject lines

UW–‍Madison staff and students periodically receive malicious messages from @wisc.edu senders. This table contains a list of email Subjects associated with recent fake emails and the approximate date they were identified as scams.

If you’ve recently received an email to your @wisc.edu account and are unsure whether it’s real or a scam, you can check it against this table. If you are still unsure whether the message is legitimate, please contact the Help Desk.

Be suspicious!