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The Federal Trade Commission warns of a phishing email scam aimed at college students. The malicious actor sends emails out claiming to be from the Financial Department of the student’s university. The email tells readers to click on the provided URL to get messages about their economic stimulus check. Once readers click on the URL it will require a university login to proceed.

These emails are phishing scams and once the URL is clicked on, the reader is either giving the malicious actors their personal information or even allowing malware to be installed onto their devices.

To help spot and avoid scams similar to the one above:

• If you have concerns about an email, look up a phone number or website of the sender/department that the email is claiming to be from. This helps to confirm you are calling someone who is real and not a malicious actor.  If there is no contact information, it very likely is a scam.

• Look out for bad grammar and spelling as this can be a tip-off that the email might be from a malicious actor. 

• Look out for wrong department names. For example the article found that one version of this phishing email claimed to be from the Financial Dept instead of the Financial Aid Department.  

• If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu and delete the message.
  
  

How do I forward full email headers?

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

UMBC’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship:

https://financialaid.umbc.edu/

For more information, please check out:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/05/covid-19-scams-targeting-college-students

As the global health crisis continues, many organizations are making the decision to continue remote work into the summer, and some are even hiring new employees remotely. Malicious actors are also still working and are capitalizing on uncertainty and preoccupation with other challenges. One of their most common goals is to obtain private information, such as passwords, personally identifiable information like social security numbers, or internal business decisions, all of which can be sold on the dark web or used in future scams targeting both individuals and organizations.  Whether you are already teleworking or simply want to be prepared for any opportunities that may arise, familiarize yourself with these simple tips to keep you, your devices, and your organization safe in the virtual workspace.

•  Read and follow your organization’s policies on telecommunications and telework. Know what you are and are not allowed to access from your personal devices.

•  Secure your Internet connection. Use a unique password for your home Wi-Fi and avoid accessing private information over public connections.

•  Lock your devices. Use a unique password, facial recognition, etc. to ensure that others cannot access private information through your phone or computer.

•  Keep your devices up to date. Update regularly or enable automatic updates to get the latest security patches as quickly as possible.

•  Use any additional security tools your organization provides. For example, UMBC offers access to the GlobalProtect VPN for secure remote connection to the campus network, and Duo Two-Factor Authentication to help prevent unauthorized logins to your UMBC account.

UMBC DoIT Security continues to receive reports of malicious emails claiming to offer part time job opportunities to UMBC students. 

From: Charlotte Oliver <charlotteoli26900@gmail.com>

Date: Sat, May 30, 2020 at 10:55

Subject: UMBC STUDENT PART TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY

Dear Student,

 

We got your contact through your school database and I'm happy to inform you that our reputable company Cisco Systems Inc® is currently running a student empowerment program. This program is to help devoted and hardworking students secure a part time job which does not deter them from doing any other, you just need a few hours to do this weekly and with an attractive weekly wages.

 

KINDLY EMAIL BACK WITH YOUR  (RESUME) PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER IF INTERESTED IN THIS JOB POSITION.

 

Best Regards,

 

Charlotte Oliver

HR Manager/Consultant

Cisco Systems Inc®

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS PHISHING EMAIL!

This phishing campaign is designed to collect students’ personal information. A reply confirms that your account is active and could lead to more spam. Additionally, if you provide your alternate email address and phone number as requested, you could be vulnerable to phone and text message scams in addition to being pressured by the fake employers for more personal information.

This job scam is similar to a COVID-19 themed variant reported in early May. While the message and subject of the emails have changed, the basic premise has not. See the original post at https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?id=92997.