The attached message was received by my department head earlier today, who was questioning why none of the pictures displayed in Outlook.  The details of the message seem accurate, and the links do eventually go to msuspartans.com.  The problem is that we’ve been educating our users on spotting phishing attempts and this message struck many of them as one.  The sender’s address says it’s Michigan State Athletics, but the reply address is [log in to unmask].  None of the links in the image go directly to what they say, they all redirect through this “pacmail”.  Having looked into it a bit, it seems like it’s just a company that Athletics engaged to produce promotional content, but I can’t fault my users for being uneasy about it.  Can anyone confirm the legitimacy of this email?  If it is legitimate, wouldn’t it pay Athletics to make it appear more genuine?

 

Ryan M. Finn

Systems Administrator

Residential and Hospitality Services

Michigan State University