I get so many `phishing’ emails that I used to not bother even looking at them, but some of them are such comedy gold that I’m starting to enjoy the bizarre tales that they tell (like, for instance, the one that begged me to help out some poor Christian lepers).  The most recent one (which arrived in a batch of four identical messages) is so ridiculously generic that I had to post it.  Phisher after the fold:

UP DATE YOUR  EMAIL NOW .

Dear University Email Owner,

This message is from University Communication  messaging center to all 
University email
Email owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and
e-mail  center. We are deleting all unused university email
to create more space for new one.

To prevent your account from closing you will have to update it
below so that we will know that it's a present used account.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL BELOW
Email Username : .......... .....
EMAIL Password : ................
Date of Birth : .................
Country or Territory : ..........

Warning!!! Email owner that refuses to update his or her
Email,within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her
Email permanently.

Thanks,
University Team
NCC. BETA

Yes, I’ve received a generic ‘university’ team email.  The phishers haven’t even bothered to fill in the name of the university I work at! This reminds me of an old Simpsons episode, where the kids spend the summer at Kamp Krusty.  They’re treated to a personalized welcome video from Krusty himself, but every time Krusty should be saying the name of the camp principal, his voice is crudely overdubbed with the principal saying his own name, “Mr. Black”.  This phishing message seems to be in the same category of skill.  I also like the stilted English used in the message.

This could be a golden opportunity for the university, though: if they find an employee who falls for this scam, they should fire them immediately!  We don’t need people that dim wandering around…