Phishing Attack Attempts

This type of attack is becoming more frequent and the sender masquerades as a legitimate organisation. The email in this article was apparently from Victoria University of Wellington. It was very similar to one in a recent incident where a Christchurch company was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars by a fake Otago University purchase order.

These can be circumvented by finding the organisation’s genuine website and calling their procurement department to verify the authenticity of the enquiry. If it’s too good to be true it usually is.

Attention: Sales/accounts
Victoria University of Wellington wish to express it's interest in your extensive line of products & services and hereby submit a request for quote for the items below;
1. WD My Passport Ultra 1TB & 2TB Portable External Hard Drive
2. Toshiba 1TB & 2TB Canvio Basics USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive
3. Seagate Expansion 1TB & 2TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive
APPLE PRODUCTS
1. Apple 15.4" MacBook Pro Retina Display with Touch Bar 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core
2. Apple Macbook Pro (2016) Retina Display 2.8GHz Intel Core i7
3. Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7
In addition to the above, you may kindly forward us your credit app and also let us know your billing procedures for 30 days payment terms.
Best Regards,
Philip Thomas
Strategic Procurement
Victoria University of Wellington
Kelburn,
Wellington 6012,
New Zealand
Phone: +64 4-472 3478
Fax: +64 4-472 3100 

Phishing Attempt 3

This example is in a similar style.