PHISHING/SCAM Alert: Email Scam Targeting UIC Students

Attackers have been targeting the UIC student community with emails advertising fake job opportunities. In particular, emails with the subject “Your UIC Job Application (Administrative Coordinating Assistant)” are part of a scam designed to trick students into sending money to the attackers.

In this type of scam, the attacker (email sender) requests the name, phone number, and postal/email addresses of people who respond to the email wanting to make extra cash. Once interest is expressed, the attacker follows-up with a phone call. The caller then proceeds to instruct the responder to deposit checks in their personal bank account. Once the check is deposited, the victim is instructed to purchase gift cards and send the card numbers of the associated gift cards to the listed email address.

This is a common scam in which the scam artists attempt to get a person to deposit a fraudulent check into their bank account, realizing that many banks will allow you to receive cash back before the usual 3 day processing period. After the 3 day processing period, the bank notifies the account holder that the check was fraudulent and the account holder loses funds and is often held responsible for re-payment of the amounts already sent to the attacker.

This particular scam was designed to appear as if it was a university sponsored job that required one hour a day, 3 days a week, paying $620 weekly.

For security reasons, we are not including the text of the email scam in this notice, but indicators that this email is a scam:
• Unusually high pay
• Employer is unable to meet in-person due to being out of the country
• Poor spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Dubious job activities: “help me Mail letters, Make payments at Walmart and purchase some Items when needed.”
• Requests a reply with Full name, Residential Address, and personal email
• Scrutinize the email address to see who sent it.

As always, individuals are advised to scrutinize unsolicited email for signs that it may be an attack or scam before replying with information or clicking on links.

If you received this email and responded with your information, please contact the UIC Police for assistance. For information on how to contact the UIC Police, please visit police.uic.edu.

ACCC Security
security@uic.edu

For more information, please contact:
Edward Zawacki
security@uic.edu