College students across the United States have been receiving e-mail messages on their school accounts in an attempt to recruit the recipient for a position within a fictitious company that offers work-at-home opportunities. To apply for employment, the student must provide personal information including bank account number. The student is then given instructions involving the deposit and transfer of funds that, unbeknownst to the student, have been stolen from other accounts by cyber criminals. Participating in this scam is a crime and could lead to sanctions such as the student facing federal charges or having their bank account closed.
Employees of colleges and universities have also fallen victim to these e-mail scams. The employee receives an e-mail directing them to login in to their Human Resources website. The website provided appears very similar to the College’s actual Human Resources site. Once the employee enters login information the scammer takes that information, signs into the employee’s official Human Resources account, and changes the employee’s direct deposit information, redirecting the employee’s paycheck to the bank account of another individual involved in the scam.
The attached Public Service Announcements from the Federal Bureau of Investigation outline how the scam works, tips to avoiding this scam and others like it, as well as the possible consequences for involvement. As always, any suspicious activity on-campus should be reported to the Department of Public Safety or, if off-campus, to local law enforcement.
Kevin A. Hall
Public Safety
01/30/2015
Attachments:
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University Employee Payroll scam 1-2015.pdf
Scams Targeting University Students 1-2015.pdf
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