Email Account Configuration and Staying Safe
By now you have seen that your official Penn State email address is a crucial link in your communication chain at Penn State World Campus. But what if you would like to check your personal email and your Penn State email in the same place? If that's the case, you're in luck!
Help.psu.edu Links to an external site. is a fantastic resource for anyone who would like to learn more about the systems at Penn State, including email. You can find instructions on configuring POP3 and IMAP clients, forwarding your mail to a personal account, and setting up your phone to send and receive your Penn State email.
If you run into any difficulty setting these services up or would just like a helpful voice to guide you through the process, you can contact the World Campus HelpDesk Links to an external site. for assistance.
Watch Out for the Phishes!
As is the case with any email address, your Penn State email may be the target of a phishing scam at some point. Phishing is a form of identity theft and is often accomplished through the use of communications that seem to come from official sources. The Office of Information Security at Penn State has put out the following helpful guidelines to assist you in detecting a phishing scam, so if an email contains any of the following signs, please use caution:
- A generic greeting—Phishing messages are usually sent out in waves to many people. The people who send them aren't likely to take the time to personalize the messages, so they'll address their targets with greetings like "Dear user" or "Penn State student" or none at all. If your name doesn't appear in the message, you should be suspicious.
- Poor grammar and incorrect spelling—If a message is important, the organization sending it to you will take the time to have people look it over for mistakes. And although scammers have improved on this count over time, take a look at some of our reported phishing messages and see if their quality rises to the level of "important official message." If you received a message that doesn't rise to that level, you should be wary.
- Forged links—Scammers will usually try to gain your information by directing you to a website where you're prompted to enter and submit your personal information. The links they provide for these websites often look like an appropriate address, but if you roll or "hover" your mouse pointer over the link and observe the text that pops up, you'll likely see an unrelated website address. If the two addresses don't match up, watch out—the message is likely a scam.
- A request for personal information—Phishing messages are sent in an attempt to trick you into handing over your personal information. If you receive a message asking for your personal information, it's likely a phishing attempt.
- A sense of urgency—Scammers don't want you to think for long about their message. They want you to take action on it. So they will often try to make you think that something has happened that requires you to immediately act. Don't be fooled into quickly handing over your password or other information—if an organization believes that your account has been hacked, they will lock it so that no one can access it. There will be no rush for you to verify information, because until you prove you're you, no one will be able to log in to your account.
For more information on this topic, or to report a phishing attempt, you can access Penn State's phishing site Links to an external site..