Alert: Notification of Email Phishing Attempts Posing as Illinois Shines Program Administrator

The Illinois Shines Program Administrator has been alerted to phishing attempts sent via email over this past weekend to Approved Vendors and Designees. The messages attempt to represent that the sender was from the Program, spoof the sender address of [email protected], and urge vendors to take prompt action to “to confirm or update ” information (including AV/Designee name, AV/Designee ID, email address, and other information drawn from the publicly-available rosters of AVs, Designees, EECs, EEC Designees and EEC Subcontractors) by clicking a link in the email.

These emails have not been sent from the Program and are not legitimate requests for information. They should not be responded to, and recipients should not click the links 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. For example, one email received displayed [email protected] as the named sender, but the true sender email address was [email protected]). 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 will be provided after the Program investigates this issue.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Program at [email protected] or (877) 783-1820.