As the semester draws to a close, Internet scammers often target students, faculty, and staff at universities in hopes that they are distracted with academic deadlines and will respond to an urgent message threatening service interruptions.
Some phishing attempts are easy to spot and include poor grammar or directly ask for sensitive information. Read more about phishing messages and how to spot them.
More sophisticated attacks, known as spear phishing, are personalized messages from scammers posing as people or institutions that you trust. They often collect identifiable information about you from social media or friends’ compromised accounts to make their messages more convincing.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), recently released a Public Service Announcement warning information security staff of an uptick in cyber related scams targeting Universities and their employees and students.
Recent scams targeting faculty and staff include:
- Spear phishing emails from scammers pretending to be the University. These emails will ask for your account credentials and can use the information to redirect payroll deposits and collect sensitive information.
- Using stolen personal information to file fraudulent income tax returns.
Recent scams targeting students include:
- Online job advertisements asking students to receive checks via the mail or email and transmit money to an individual.
- Rerouting reimbursement money from student accounts to other bank accounts. This is usually a result of compromised accounts following a phishing or malware attack.
How can you protect yourself?
- Never respond to a phishing email by providing your personal information or passwords in an email or form.
- Monitor your online HR or student information system and financial accounts for any changes that you did not initiate.
- Use a separate, strong password for each service you use and change them quarterly.
- Only accept offers of employment from reputable individuals or organizations.
If you believe you have responded to a phishing attack or other scam, please contact your campus IT Help Desk for assistance.
