College students are starting to be targeted by internet criminals through their university email accounts. Students at University of New England have reported many suspicious emails flooding their inboxes since last fall. Such emails promise fast and easy money when applying to a job through a link. The scams have become so frequent at UNE, that the IT and Career services offices at the university decided to take action. On January 29, 2020 a flyer was published that detailed tips for people to avoid becoming potential victims of this scam. The poster warns students to not click on the links provided in these emails. Emails directly from Career Services will be for more professional jobs instead of fast and easy ones. Also, asking for personal information and money is a huge red flag that alludes to a scam.
This issue is not a small issue that has happened in isolation at UNE. Internet scam criminals have been targeting campus email accounts for quite awhile. University of Colorado Boulder has a job scam warning on their website as a resource. Their advice sounds very similar to the UNE Career Services’ announcement. They warn, “Some job scams are easy to spot while others appear legitimate.” (https://www.colorado.edu/studentemployment/resources/recognize-avoid-job-scams). Despite the ambiguity of some scam emails, both universities suggest that students always ask a trusted official if in doubt.
Employment scams have been such an identity threat that the FBI even posted a press release warning to combat it. (https://www.ic3.gov/media/2020/200121.aspx).
