Announcements

FROM: UTech Services RE: Online Jobs and Internet Scams
Sent:
9/23/2019 10:29:01 AM
To: Students, Faculty, Staff

Recently an e-mail went out to several users looking for a baby-sitter for someone moving to the area. They asked potential candidates to reply to an e-mail with their phone number to follow up for additional details.

This is a somewhat common internet scam known as Advance Fee Check Scam. It frequently comes up as a job offer, targeting users selling things online, or as a lottery scam.

The premise is you will be contacted by another party offering you money to perform a service or to sell your goods. The person on the other end will mail you a check worth more than the item or service is worth with an explanation that you will need to purchase supplies or a service or wire the extra to a third party. 

The only problem is these checks are fake and can take your bank several weeks for the check to bounce. Wire transfers are immediate and cannot be reversed. 

In order to keep yourself safe online keep several things in mind:

For more information on keeping yourself safe please visit these links:
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/oregon-fbi-tech-tuesday-building-a-digital-defense-against-check-cashing-scams
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/anatomy-fake-check-scam
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/jobseekers-beware-dont-fall-prey-to-this-advance-fee-scam-070715.html