NCSAM Week 3 - Handling email-based scams

Scams are usually emails from unknown senders, often spoof college personas, almost always include a sense of urgency, and are designed to steal from you. Student-facing scams often include offers of part time work (just send $500 for setup fee and equipment), but can take many shapes, including natural disaster relief donations, “free” pianos, welding equipment, or other goods. (You just have to pay for the shipping!) The newest “sextortion” scams may even include a Google Maps street view of your residence!

When you receive a scam email, please use Gmail’s “Report phishing” feature and do not engage with the sender or any contact info in the message. The risk of a scam relates to the individual, but we don’t want people to get caught up in these, so we treat them as seriously as phishing. We’ve seen occasions where students, faculty members and staff have fallen for these.

OIT will review emails submitted via this method, and may take action up to and including removal from all recipients’ inboxes when necessary.

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