A&T IT Services Warns Students, Faculty of Online Jobs Scam

EAST GREENSBORO, NC (May 11, 2023) -- Information Technology Services (ITS) security experts are warning North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University students and faculty to watch out for an e-mail job-offer scam that is phishing for students personal information and using fake checks to get it.

The e-mails so far are coming exclusively from fake gmail accounts that scammers are using to impersonate A&T faculty members. The messages promise research assistant jobs, often with exorbitant pay for working remotely, and seek resumes of those who are interested. The resume information is then used to perpetrate identity theft and may be used to target the student in future scams. 

When respondents reply, they are pulled into a fake job application process and sent a fraudulent check featuring the university's logo to buy office supplies. In some cases, the scammers are seeking the name of the respondents' banking institutions and account information and the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Students are warned to look critically at any unsolicited e-mail coming from a gmail account and including a research assistant position or other job opportunity.

Anyone who has received such an e-mail is urged to report it to informIT@ncat.edu. If you suspect identity theft, please report it immediately to the Federal Trade Commission via this page: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-identity-theft. 

Phishing Scam: Additional Information

Scammers will use any information you provide to steal your identity. If you sent your resume, beware that scammers may attempt to use any information you provided to target you in future scams.  References on your resume may be targeted as well.

If you sent the name of your banking institution and/or you sent your bank account information, the recommendation is for you to contact your bank.

If you sent your full or the last four digits of your social security number, the recommendation is for you to access the FTC identity theft resource via the link above.

If you sent your full or partial Banner ID, notify informIT@ncat.edu.

If you have questions, email informIT@ncat.edu.

Please note the following red flags regarding this scam: 

• Sender email address has @gmail.com; A&T faculty and staff use the @ncat.edu domain for university communications.
• Unsolicited email meaning you never applied for the job.
• Look for grammatical, spelling, and/or punctuation errors.
• Too good to be true; for instance, $350 in weekly pay for remote, unsupervised work.
• Generic – specifics aren’t mentioned like your name and what the research is about.
• You receive a fraudulent check from the university for at least $3,000 to deposit and purchase office supplies.