Pitt Information Technology is aware of a phishing scam targeting the University of Pittsburgh community that advertises a fictitious job visiting Bitcoin ATMs for a survey. The scam, which appears to originate from a pitt.edu address, may use the subject “PART TIME JOB” or “[PART-TIME]” and asks recipients to reply with an alternative email address and their school schedule.

The following is a sample of the scam.

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Subject: PART TIME JOB

[PART-TIME]SURVEY SPECIALIST POSITION

COMPANY & JOB DESCRIPTION:  Block-stream ( A secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum)  seeks INDIVIDUALS who can VISIT at least “one” BITCOIN ATM every week for a survey.

WEEKLY SALARY: ( $350 +$50 for miscellaneous including tax)

For more Information. Contact (email address redacted)

with your alternative “email address” as well as your school schedule.

 

Sincerely,

Anderson Hall

Senior investment Officer

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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.
• 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 Technology Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.