An E-mail to a Doppelganger Domain

March 15, 2023

The Public University Corporation,

the University of Aizu

We have confirmed a leak of personal information within the university due to an email mistakenly sent to a doppelganger domain.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

In response to this incident, we have reminded all faculty and staff of the proper handling of personal and confidential information to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.

At this time, we have not confirmed any cases of misuse of the personal information.

<Outline>

An e-mail was supposed to be sent to "@gmail.com", but mistakenly sent to "@gmai.com" (missing the letter "l"), which is similar to the legitimate domain name.

Domain names such as "@gmai.com" are called doppelganger domains and are used for nefarious purposes such as obtaining personal information.

(1) Date the E-mail Was Sent

　Wednesday, January 11, 2023

(2) Leaked Information

Name, telephone number, and e-mail address of one University student

< How the Incident Was Discovered >

Following an incident at other institutions, the University conducted an internal investigation in February 2023.

As a result of the investigation, we found the said e-mail sent to "@gmai.com".