What is the harm in replying to a phishing scam?
When you provide your username and password to phishers, your account is compromised. Phishers can use your email account to send millions of spam messages from campus email servers. When Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Yahoo, Comcast and Hotmail detect large amounts of spam coming from campus email servers they reject mail from all UC Davis addresses. In much the same way that UC Davis prevents spam originating outside the campus from reaching your email inbox, Internet Service Providers prevent spam originating on campus from reaching their email account holders. This is such a serious problem that your account will be disabled when it is found to be compromised.
