I really like summers at universities because there is just such a peaceful quiet atmosphere around. The undergrads are gone and most advisors travel and some graduate students are away doing internships and most importantly there are no classes so I can do my research in peace.
It was on a summer day in 2012 and I was working on my code and having fun with the KISS random number generator. KISS stands for keep is simple stupid. I'm not joking google it. My advisor came in. His office is just next to mine and when he comes in you hear the noise. As usual he started telling me about his personal life and when he starts he can keep going for ever. I tell the story from his perspective to keep the joke alive.
"I got an email from the FBI telling me I had child porn on my computer and if I do not pay a $500 fine to a certain bank account my computer will be locked. So I called the FBI. I told them I am Dr. Robert from Rice University and I don't have child porn and what is this email? Why do I have to pay $500? and the FBI person told me that there are some criminals sending these emails out and I should pay attention to the senders name and address before I open an email. But the email looked so professional. I mean it had the FBI logo on it and it looked so real and legit"
There we were standing two graduate students and an undergrad trying not to burst in laughter. I just imagine that person's face from FBI when he realizes a professor from Rice university cannot distinguish a phishing message from a real one and does not even have the critical thinking ability to realize that such message cannot actually be from FBI. It is very sad that this professor is so technology illiterate that he does not even know anybody could download the FBI logo and make a fake email address.
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