“Are you available?” Impersonation Scam

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 20:09:00 -0400
notice

The scam email below has recently been reported to the Division of Information Technology (DoIT). The example below has the scammer claiming to be UMBC’s Sarah Chard but please note that the scammer impersonated many different people during this campaign.

From: Sarah Chard <(Impersonated)@umbc.edu>

Date: Thu, Apr 15, 2021

Subject: Are you on campus or available?

To:

Are you available? I need you to handle something for me. I'm currently in a meeting with limited access. Please send me your cell# where I can text you on right away.

Best regards,

Sarah Chard

Chair, Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

213 Public Policy, 1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, MD 21250

The scam email above is asking users to help them because the scammer claims that they are currently in a meeting. Through different reports it has been seen that the scammer is claiming to be not only UMBC’s Sarah Chard but also David Mitch, Amy Froide, Vandana Janeja, Philip Farabaugh, Michael Hayden, Mark Marten and Jean Fernandez.

Even though this scam email campaign seems to be coming from UMBC accounts, please note that within the headers it shows that the reply-to is <hiredes111@gmail.com> and the X-sender is <robert.baker@westworksstudios.com>.

The scammer is asking for users to reply with their cell phone number. In the past, similar scams have asked users who replied to purchase gift cards or crypto currencies. If you have received this or a similar message, please do not respond or make any purchases for the scammers.

What to do now?

If you do receive this or a similar scam, please DO NOT respond any further or click on any URLs. If you have provided any banking or financial information, please notify your bank or financial institution immediately. If you have been sent a check, you should not attempt to cash or deposit it. If you have deposited a check already, please contact your bank and tell them that it may be part of a scam.

Whether you responded to the scam or not, please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu. We will also keep track of any other information you submit about the scammers, such as their phone numbers. If you were sent a check or other materials, please send pictures of it and the envelope they came in.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

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