Colleges and universities in the area have received reports of fraudulent employment scams targeting students at their respective schools.  Scammers are falsely representing themselves as educators looking for research assistants.  It is reported that once students agree to the employment, they are instructed to perform a variety of tasks such as purchasing gift cards and forwarding redemption codes or sending money directly through digital payment apps.

Pay close attention to employment offers where an email or job posting:

• Does not clearly indicate the company name
• Comes from an email address that does not match the company’s email address format
• Does not give the employer’s contact information such as the title of person sending the email, the company address, phone number, etc.
• Offers a job with little interaction
• Asks to pay an application fee or asks you to transfer money from one account to another
• Asks to give your credit card or bank account numbers
• Asks to send copies of personal documents

Remember: DO NOT provide any personal information, especially Social Security numbers or financial information without verifying the identity of the recipient.

If you think that you have been contacted in relation to a scam of this nature, or have fulfilled requests of a suspicious nature, please contact Technology’s Information Security Analyst, [email protected], or call Public Safety at 617-521-1112.
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