Loyola Information Security Blog

Here is the latest job offer scam.  The email has the subject line of “Student and Staffs Employment”  Notice that they attempt to use an incorrect plural of staff.

The email appears to come from an active compromised LUC email account which is unrelated to the actual fake “Job”.  Compromised accounts usually have a weak password. In the case of an account with multi-factor authentication (MFA), the victim, in addition to a weak password, responds to a push notification request that they did not ask for.

The link in the email will take you to a Google form and ask for contact information.  Note that businesses will not use a Google form and would have a corporate email address as a contact point.

Here are the telltale signs that an email is fake.

1. 1. The email does not come from a corporate email account.
   2. The offer sounds too good to be true (e.g., offers a generous salary for little work).
   3. The email asks for personal information, documents, or credit card / bank account details.
   4. The email contains spelling or grammar errors.
   5. The offer is for a job without any prior interaction or interview.
   6. The email sender asks you to send any payment (such as an application fee) or transfer money between accounts.
   7. The email sender offers to send you a check before you do any work or offer to send an unexpectedly large check.
   8. The email is unsolicited.
   9. The email does not address you by name. The email may say your information was obtained from a job board, school database or Career Services office. If so, they should address the email to you directly rather than using phrases such as “Hello Student” or “Good Morning.”
   10. The email sender asks to continue the conversation by text. This makes the scam harder to track.