Summer Job Posting seen on Campus
Several “summer job opportunity” fliers have been spotted around campus. This multi-level marketing company did not have permission to post their fliers on campus. IT would like to take this as an opportunity to remind the FIT community that cyber criminals also try to take advantage of college students looking for work, wanting to make extra money during their limited free time. Scammers often target student emails and places students look for work and to connect with employers.
Be Cybersafe and read more about how cyber criminals may try and target college students:
A scam could starts with an online job posting seeking college students for administrative positions. The cyber criminal poses as an employer and sends the student a “start-up” funds via check to deposit in their account. The scammer then directs the student to send a portion of the funds via wire transfer to a “vendor” for supplies or other equipment. The checks are confirmed to be fraudulent by the bank, and the student is responsible for covering the fraudulent check amount and is out the money they wire transferred.
“You will need some materials/software and also a time tracker to commence your training and orientation, and also you need the software to get started with work. The funds for the software will be provided for you by the company via check. Make sure you use them as instructed for the software and I will refer you to the vendor you are to purchase them from, okay. I have forwarded your start-up progress report to the HR Dept. and they will be facilitating your start-up funds with which you will be getting your working equipment from vendors and getting started with training. Enclosed is your first check. Please cash the check, take $300 out as your pay, and send the rest to the vendor for supplies.”
Consequences of participating in this scam like this:
- Your bank account may be closed due to fraudulent activity, and a report could be filed by the bank with a credit bureau or law enforcement agency.
- You are responsible for reimbursing the bank the amount of the counterfeit checks.
- Your credit record could be adversely affected.
- Scammers may collect personal information while posing as an employer, leaving you vulnerable to identity theft.
How to protect yourself from this scam like this:
- Never accept a job that requires depositing checks into your account or wiring portions to other individuals or accounts.
- Look for poor use of the English language in e-mails such as incorrect grammar, capitalization, and tenses.
- Forward suspicious e-mails to [email protected]