Recipients of the scam were notified shortly after receiving it.
Posted Feb 22, 2024 - 07:28 EST
Monitoring
Pitt Information Technology is taking action to address a new phishing scam targeting the University community. The scam claims to offer a fraudulent job opportunity as an administrative assistant.
The Subject line may be similar to this example:
• PART/TIME ADMIN-ASSlSTANT OPPORTUNITY!!
The body of the email message may be similar to this example:
**********
Some DEPTS are currently hiring individuals who can assist some of their visiting professors by providing basic admin duties remotely.
The successful candidate will Liaise with staff, other departments, and/or external organisations concerning matters regarding assigned work as well as coordinating with the Director.
Weekly Salary: $400 ( $350 +$50 for miscellaneous including tax)
For More Information; Get in touch with Prof Dorin [email address redacted] with your PERSONAL email address For Consideration,
Sincerely, [name redacted] [email address redacted] [phone number redacted]
**********
Individuals who have already responded to this scam should block the scammer’s email address and/or phone number and be vigilant about reviewing any messages received at the email address they provided.
The University Career Center provides detailed guidance for Identifying and Avoiding Fraudulent Jobs and Scams on its website. Additional guidance for spotting phishing scams is available on Pitt IT’s website. Keep in mind these key points:
• Only approve multifactor authentication (Duo) requests that you have initiated. Duo is designed to prevent unauthorized access to your information and University data, but it requires constant vigilance. Never tap “Approve” if you receive a Duo authentication request that you were not expecting. Uninitiated authentication requests may be an attacker attempting to compromise your Pitt account. The only safe Duo authentication request you will receive is one you request when logging in to University services. • Do not reply to unsolicited emails or emails from unverifiable sources. If you were not expecting to receive such an email, confirm with the sender prior to interacting with the message. If you must interact with the message, avoid clicking on links contained in such emails. These may lead to sites that contain malicious software, or sites that attempt to steal your credentials. If a link looks suspicious, you can hover over the link with your mouse to preview the URL without clicking on it. • Be extra cautious if you automatically forward your University email. Automatically forwarding your University email to a non-University address (for example, gmail.com, hotmail.com, or upmc.edu) circumvents some of the security measures Pitt IT puts in place to protect you against phishing scams. • Report suspected phishing scams. To report a phishing scam, forward the phishing email as an attachment to phish@pitt.edu. • Stay safe when scanning QR codes. Never scan a QR code from an unknown or untrustworthy source. When you do scan a QR code, be sure to use a scanner app that provides a preview of the destination so that you can review the URL and decide if it is safe. If you scan a QR code and the site is unrelated to what you scanned or requires a login, close out of your browser immediately. • Install an antivirus solution for personal devices. Staff and faculty should be using Microsoft Defender to protect University-owned devices.
Please contact the 24/7 IT Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.
Posted Feb 19, 2024 - 19:45 EST
This incident affected: Security Alerts (phishing scams, new vulnerabilities, etc.).