Notice of a LEGITIMATE E-mail Survey!

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 16:50:49 -0400
notice

Normally, these posts warn of various types of fraud and misdirection that try to mislead victims into giving up personal information and/or money. The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) encourages and appreciates vigilance and caution among members of the UMBC community.

That said, there are occasions when messages are sent out to account holders asking them to click on a link or fill in a form are legitimate. DoIT received a report about a message that appears to be a legitimate request to participate in a survey about intercultural development at UMBC. After investigation, we have established that the message is exactly that! If you receive such a message (see excerpt below), please feel free to respond. The survey is overseen by Dr. Irina Golubeva and Dr. Jasmine A. Lee of the Division of Students Affairs.

Good afternoon,

We are reaching out to you today as a part of a Hrabowski Innovation Fund (HIF) grant project. One overall goal of the project is to develop the intercultural communication skills of undergraduate and graduate students through intercultural dialogues on campus and to enhance their preparedness for working in a culturally diverse world. By completing this survey, you will assist us in this endeavor by sharing your perspectives on campus climate and sharing your insights on where you engage in intercultural development at UMBC. This survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. As an incentive, your name will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 UMBC Bookstore Gift Card. The survey will be available from September 16, 2021 through October 2, 2021.

We appreciate your mindfulness and ask you to continue taking care in the future. E-mail and text message scams surged at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown and show no sign of abating. As always, if you have a question about the validity of any message you receive at your UMBC email address, please contact us at security@umbc.edu.

For more information about phishing, visit: https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?id=98136.

If you have received any message similar to the one listed above, please forward it with its headers to security@umbc.edu. For instructions, visit: https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970.

_________________________________________________________________