Community Alert: Email Scam 1/17/15

From the Stanford Department of Public Safety:

The FBI has recently issued two public service announcements regarding email scams which have resulted in victims throughout the country.

The first scam is known as the “Work-from-home” scam, which specifically targets university students. Students have received emails recruiting them for payroll and/or human resource positions with fictitious companies. The “position” requires the student to provide his/her bank account number under the guise of setting up direct deposit for his/her pay.

The second scam is a university employee payroll scam. The employees are receiving fraudulent emails indicating a change in their human resource status. The email contains a link directing the employee to log in to their human resources website to identify this change. While the website looks very similar to the legitimate site, it is actually a bogus site where the scammers are able to steal the employee’s credentials. The scammers then use these credentials to access the employee’s direct deposit information via the actual website, redirecting their pay.

To avoid becoming a victim, NEVER send money or provide personal or financial information to anyone who requests such information through an email or other solicitation, no matter how good or credible the offer sounds!

For more information including a copy of the full FBI Public Service Announcements, please go to https://police.stanford.edu