Spring brings brightly colored tulips, buds on the trees, and scammers phishing for personal information, payments, and more. Unfortunately, threat actors target students at higher education institutions, including U-M. A common scam is to lure them with the offer of a job or internship.
How it works
- Scammers send legitimate-looking emails impersonating real U-M professors or departments.
- Remote work with great pay! No interview. It sounds too good to be true because it is.
- Limited time opportunity! They urge students to act quickly, without thinking.
- They ask students to switch communication to a non-UMICH email or text and then try to trick them into sharing their personal information and/or making payments.
You can help students be victors, not victims, by spreading awareness of these scams and how to avoid them.
Job Offer Scams: It starts with a job offer, but then scammers ask for a favor like acquiring gift cards or processing a check that turns out to be fake.
Tips for those who receive a suspicious email or message
- Don’t reply. Cut off contact.
- Don’t share login or personal info, or make payments.
- Don’t deposit checks sent via email or text.
- Forward the message to ReportPhish@umich.edu.
- If you gave your login information, change your password ASAP.
Students can visit Safe Computing for Students to learn more about common scams and how to report them.
