“Part-Time Job” Impersonation Job Scam

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 12:42:27 -0400
notice

The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has received reports of another job scam similar to several seen over the past several months. Below is the most recent example of this scam with the names and emails removed for privacy reasons.

From: ON-CAMPUS JOBS <georgerobertoe@gmail.com>

Date: 6/22/21 6:36 AM (GMT-05:00)

To:

Subject: Part-Time Job Position

The services of a student administrative assistant is urgently required to work part-time and get paid $300 weekly. Tasks will be carried out remotely and work time is 7hrs/week.

If interested, send a copy of your updated resume and a functional whatsapp number to our Department of Psychology via this email address to proceed.

Sincerely

Susan Sonnenschein, Ph.D

Professor

Department of Psychology

Office: Math/Psychology 317

Lab: Sondheim 502

Website: Children and families, schooling, & Dev. Lab.

As with previous versions of this scam, the signature at the end is that of a member of the UMBC faculty with contact information that can easily be copied from campus web pages. Please note that the From: address is “georgerobertoe@gmail.com”. No attempt has been made to spoof Prof. Sonnenschein’s address. Further communication via the ‘functional whatsapp number’ requested will be even hard to trace than this email message.

If the recipient responds, the job offer immediately becomes a job and the first assignment will be to purchase gift cards, get the numbers off the back of the, and send them to the scammer. In return, the victim will get a picture of a check to print out and deposit using a back phone app. The check will be invalid, but it may take 3-5 days to find that out. Whatever money the victim has spent will be gone. There will be no way to get it back.

If you have received this or a similar scam (just like the ones that are linked above), please do not respond or click on any URLs.

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.