Cartoon of a hacker - a person in a black hoodie with their face hidden, using a laptop.

We have been receiving reports of a recent phishing email making it into University inboxes.

The email claims to be from a senior member of the University, but actually comes from the email address “executivecdirectoor@gmail.com”. It has a single word subject line, either “Work” or “Task”. The email asks you to email back urgently. If you do this, you will then be asked to purchase iTune gift cards.

What do I do if I receive one?

Do not reply to this email or open any attachments as it could damage your work and computer and may make your private details vulnerable.

What have we done to mitigate?

We had many reports of this particular issue so we could react quickly to the threat. Our Security team has blocked the malicious email address executivecdirectoor@gmail.com and any emails that have not yet been delivered are being quarantined so they do not reach any more inboxes. 


If you are concerned about this email or other similar emails then please call ex.6262 or go to reading.ac.uk/dts to raise a ticket. 

https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-technology-services/home/password-reset

If you are a member of staff whose students are reporting this to you we strongly recommend that they change their password via Microsoft https://passwordreset.microsoftonline.com/.

For tips on keeping yourself and your information safe online, visit our web page on Cyber Security. If you would like to reset your password instructions are on our website.