Pitt Information Technology has seen a resurgence at the University of an ongoing type of phishing scam that advertises a fraudulent employment opportunity. The current variation of this scam offers Pitt students a remote research assistant position and asks recipients to provide their name, email address, and other information via text message to receive more information. The scammer’s goal is either to defraud the victim or to enlist the victim’s unknowing participation in criminal activity. The scam may be sent from compromised accounts of Pitt users and may reference the name of actual Pitt faculty or staff members.

The following is a sample of the recent scam. If you receive this message (or any message similar to it), please report it as a phishing scam by forwarding the email message as an attachment to phish@pitt.edu. Detailed instructions on reporting scams are available at https://www.technology.pitt.edu/security/phishing-scams. If you have already responded to this scam, block the scammer’s phone number and be vigilant about reviewing any emails sent to the email address you provided in your text message.

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Subject: HIRING PITT STUDENT

University of Pittsburgh, PITT.  The Office of Academic Career Development needs the services of students to work as research assistants and gets paid weekly. The position is served remotely and assignments can be carried out in your leisure time. The position is open to students from any department of the institution PITT. To proceed with the application process, contact professor [actual Pitt name] now on ‪(XXX) XXX-XXX via text message stating your full name, email address, year of study, and department to receive the job description and further application requirements.

Best Regards,

[actual Pitt name]
[Title]

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Pitt IT strongly recommends that you 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.

In addition, Pitt IT recommends that all students, faculty, and staff install Antivirus and Anti-Malware (Malwarebytes) Protection. Departments can submit a help request to obtain Malwarebytes for multiple machines.

Please contact the Technology Help Desk at 412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.