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March 20, 2024

Urgent Alert: Beware of Fake Job Offers and Phishing Scams

Dear Baruch College Students,

I am writing to alert you to a sharp increase in fraudulent job offer emails targeting Baruch students, like yourself. In these fraudulent emails, the sender pretends to be a Baruch/CUNY professor or staff member and offers remote Research Assistant positions for $400 a week (and other job offers). These are not Baruch/CUNY jobs. These are scams. These scams take various formats, such as check-deposit schemes, fraudulent job opportunities to earn money from home, and appeals to help others in distress. The sender may ask students to text them by phone message and provide them with information. The scammer then may send students fraudulent checks, and this turns into a check-cashing scam. Please do not reply to these emails or communicate with the sender, and do not deposit fraudulent checks into your personal bank account.

At a time when we are so heavily dependent on technology, we are all at increased risk for predatory Internet behavior and email scams.


  *   Avoiding Scams
     *   Avoid "get rich fast" schemes or listings that provide high income for part-time or no work at all.
     *   Do not send money to employers as part of the application process.
     *   Do not send money to employers to purchase kits/software that may be required for the job.
     *   Be wary of jobs that require little to no experience at all.
     *   Avoid jobs that do not require a formal interview process or no interview.
     *   Do not engage in text-only interviews.
     *   Consider the source of the job, especially if someone contacts you without your having applied for the job.
     *   Avoid conversations with recruiters/persons who have unclear identities and contact information.
     *   Check that the contact information of the employer/recruiter matches who they say they work for. Be especially wary of emails coming from non-business email accounts (Gmail, etc.).
     *   Be wary of emails allegedly coming from Baruch professors or staff that do not come from a @baruch.cuny.edu email address.
     *   Be wary of unprofessional emails that contain punctuation/grammar errors.
     *   Check that the business has a website and the email of the person you're corresponding with is coming from the same domain (e.g., "business.com" domain, "@business.com" email address).
     *   Avoid jobs that prioritize urgency over qualifications, requiring you to start right away with no questions asked.
     *   Search the exact message that was sent out or the email address it came from and check if anyone else reported it as a scam.
     *   Be careful of online forms requesting personal information as part of the application process. Check that the form is located on the business website of the employer requesting the information.
     *   To get a better understanding of the types of scams that have been occurring, review this listing of currently known scams<https://studentaffairs.baruch.cuny.edu/starr-career-development-center/welcome-students/avoiding-job-scams/currently-known-scams/>.


  *   Protecting Your Personal Information
     *   Do not share any of the following information as part of the application process: Social Security number, birthdate, bank account number, credit card number, or any other state/federally issued ID number (e.g., passport, driver's license).
     *   Do not share any information that might be used to guess answers to such security questions as mother's maiden name, city you were born, favorite color, and first school you attended.
     *   Do not register for seemingly legitimate job sites that ask for a lot of personal information simply to access the site. The only necessary information should be a username and a password.


  *   Reporting Suspicious Activity: If you receive a suspicious email or encounter any questionable activity, please report it immediately to my office. You can forward the email to Robert Curry, Director of Public Safety, at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> and Sabina Pringle from the Office of Legal Affairs at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> or contact us at 646-312-4545 for assistance.



  *   Educating Others: Please help spread awareness among your peers. Ensure that your friends and classmates are informed about these scams and know how to identify and respond to phishing attempts. Visit the Avoiding Job Scams webpage<https://studentaffairs.baruch.cuny.edu/starr-career-development-center/welcome-students/avoiding-job-scams/currently-known-scams/> and the Fraud and Scam Prevention webpage<https://president.baruch.cuny.edu/legal-and-labor/fraud-and-scam-prevention/> for additional resources.

Your vigilance and cooperation are vital in safeguarding our campus community. Together, we can thwart further exploitation and protect ourselves against these malicious attempts.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Best regards,

Olga Dais
Assistant Vice President, Legal Counsel and Labor Designee



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