The Illinois Shines Program Administrator has been alerted to phishing attempts sent via email today to Approved Vendors and Designees. The message attempted to represent that the sender was from the Program, spoof the sender address as coming from “[email protected]”, and urge vendors to review compliance to information by clicking a linked PDF document embedded in the email.
These emails have not been sent from the Program and are not legitimate notices. They should not be responded to, and recipients should not click the link(s) in the message. These emails look official, as they include the Illinois Shines logo and the spoofed sender address, but phishing emails are fraudulent messages that attempt to deceive recipients into providing sensitive information, or installing malware (such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware) by clicking on links or replying to the message. Like other phishing attempts, they include unusual sender domains, a link going to a non-Illinois Shines site, and other suspicious language and format. Although today’s email appears to be legitimate, it is not. If you clicked the link in the phishing email (or are unsure if you may have) and if you believe you subsequently shared Program portal credentials, please alert the Program Administrator and change your Program portal password immediately.
The Program thanks stakeholders for alerting the Program Administrator to these emails, and recommends individual recipients contact their company’s system administrators to report the messages. More information regarding this phishing attempt and the previous attempt announced on July 29, 2024, will be provided after the Program further investigates these issues.
Should you have any questions, please contact the Program at [email protected] or (877) 783-1820.
