Office of
Information Technology Services (ITS)

Safe Computing @ Andrews

Job Scam Emails

Have you received an email similar to this about a job opportunity?

From: Christensen [Redacted] <[redacted]@gmail.com>

Dear Student,

We got your contact through your school database and I’m happy to inform you that our reputable company [Legitimate Company] is currently running a student empowerment programme. This programme is to help loyal and hardworking students like you secure a part time work from home job which does not deter you from doing any other, you just need a few hours to do this weekly and with an attractive weekly salary.
KINDLY EMAIL BACK WITH YOUR MOBILE NUMBER IF INTERESTED IN THIS JOB POSITION.

Kind Regards,
Christensen [Redacted]
HR Manager
[Legitimate Company] Inc.®

Unfortunately, the email above it is not a legitimate job offer, but a scam that could cost you money. Scammers are spoofing Andrews University email addresses to send job scam emails designed to trick students into applying for a job that requires them to provide personal information and potentially engage in criminal activity.
Please confirm all employers and representatives before corresponding via email or phone.

There are many ways to identify a job scam email:

  • The email is from a Gmail, Yahoo, or other non-Andrews address. Legitimate companies should email from their corporate email account. Andrews University will not post jobs from employers that do not have corporate email accounts.
  • You are not the only recipient on the email. Legitimate companies will not send an email about a job offer to multiple people at once.
  • The email does not address you by name. The email may say your information was obtained from a job board, school database, or a career services office. If so, they should address the email to you directly, rather than “Hello Student” or “Good Morning”.
  • The company name is a legitimate company. To make the scam more believable the email will use the name of a legitimate company. However, the person contacting you has no relationship with the company they are claiming to work for.
  • They ask to continue the conversation by text. This makes the scam harder to document. Conversations about legitimate offers should be conducted by email.
  • They ask for personal information in an email. Legitimate job opportunities require you to apply and provide your personal information in an official application, many times on the company website.
  • The email contains grammatical or spelling errors. A very common attribute of scam emails is that they do not bother to spell check or grammar check their outgoing emails.
  • There is no contact information for the sender. Any legitimate email from a company’s Human Resources or Recruiting department should have a signature line with the sender's name, title, and contact information.
  • The email asks you to visit a non-Andrews website. Andrews University will only ask you to visit the website for official career services events on campus.

If you receive an email that contains this type of information, delete it. There is no need to respond. If you ever have questions about whether or not an email is legitimate, forward it to:  helpdesk@andrews.edu.

Take the Time, Be Informed

Phishing Scams

When Internet criminals impersonate a business to trick you into giving out your personal information, it’s called phishing. Do not reply to email, text or pop-up messages that ask for your personal or financial information. Don’t click on links within them either—even if the message seems to be from an organization you trust, like Andrews University—It is not! Legitimate businesses don’t ask you to send sensitive information through insecure channels.
Malicious email typically uses urgent language, asks for passwords, bank account numbers, user names, credit card numbers or other personal information; and may have grammatical, typographical or other obvious errors.

What happens if I am scammed?
If you think you gave personal information in response to a phishing email or on a suspicious webpage, your account may be compromised.

  • Change your Andrews password. Sign in to Vault, then select "Change Your Password."
  • Carefully review any online accounts that became vulnerable as a result of responding to the email message.

Report Possible Phishing Scams and IT Security Incidents
If you have received an email that you believe is a potential phishing scam, it is important that you report the incident(s) as soon as possible so that work can begin to investigate and resolve them. Forward the suspected phishing email to the ITS Technology Helpdesk at helpdesk@andrews.edu. IT security incidents include but are not limited to items listed in 1:762:10 General Guidelines of the Andrews University Computers & Networks Policy.

Still Not Sure?
The following links are well-known services to check domains for reports of phishing, scams and spam email. They let you search for websites and domains that have been reported by others as being good or bad.

https://community.opendns.com/domaintagging/
https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard
http://www.phishtank.com/

Email Safety
  • Set up your spam filter. Search online for various tutorials concerning instructions for your email client.  Andrews University uses a spam filter by Google.  For more information, see Manage Spam Emails at Andrews.
  • Block unwanted instant messages. Spam attacks instant messenger as well, so set up your spam filter on your messaging client.
  • Block Images. Pictures sent through email can be modified to communicate with the sender. Spammers use the info to find active email addresses so prevent pictures from downloading until you’ve read the message. Check your email User’s Guide to learn about this feature.
  • Only share your primary email address with people you know
  • Set up an email address dedicated solely to web transactions
  • Watch out for pre-checked boxes. When you buy or download online, companies sometimes pre-select check boxes to trick you. Make sure to read all check boxes and uncheck anything you don’t agree with.
  • Delete junk email messages without opening them. Some emails contain hooks that capture your email address when you open the email.
  • Don’t reply to spam emails. Be wary of messages that include a link to "remove me from this list."
  • Don’t give out personal information in an email or instant message.
  • Think twice before opening attachments or clicking links in e-mail or instant messages. Viruses can attach themselves to email and infect your computer when you click on them.
  • Don’t buy anything or give to any charity promoted through spam. Spammers often swap email lists. So, buying something from spam mail may result in your name being passed to another spammer resulting in even more spam being sent directly to you.
  • Don’t forward chain email messages. You can easily lose control of who sees your email address and further provide your email address to additional spammers.
  • Report abusive, harassing, or threatening email messages to Student Life and Campus Safety.
  • Report phishing scams or fraudulent emails to the company who was misrepresented by contacting them directly.
Recommended Malware / Virus Protection

Our office recommends the following free software for effective anti-virus and anti-malware protection:

Windows:
  • Malwarebytes
  • Windows Defender  |  Built-in to Windows 8.1 and 10
Mac (yes, they get viruses too!):
Related Links
Information Technology Usage Policy  
OnGuardOnline.gov The federal government’s website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online.
US-CERT Tips from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, the official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

 

Office of Information Technology Services (ITS)