Pitt Information Technology is aware of two new phishing scams targeting the University of Pittsburgh community.
Email Deactivation Scam
The first scam, which appears to originate from a pitt.edu address, claims that a recipient’s Pitt Email accounts will be deactivated unless they log in with their Pitt credentials to reactivate it. The Subject of the message is typically “Email Update.” Below is a sample of the scam:
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Subject: Email Update
Dear User,
Your PITT.Edu Email account will be Deactivated shortly for security reasons. CLICK HERE [link removed] and log in to reactivate your PITT portal.
Thank you,
PITT.EDU IT-Helpdesk
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Clicking on the link in the email opens a malicious webpage that encourages recipients to log in with their Pitt credentials.
Job Opportunity Scam
The second scam also appears to originate from a pitt.edu address and advertises a fictitious job as an administrative assistant. The message may use a variety of Subjects and contains PDF attachment that asks recipients to provide personal contact information for follow-up, including date of birth, cell phone number, and address. Below is a sample of the scam:
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Subject: Paid Part-Time Job
To whom it may concern
I am sharing a Job Vacancy to students who might be interested in Administrative Assistant Job to make up to $500 or more weekly. If interested Kindly reply or find attached for urgent details of employment.
Position: Personal Assistant
Type: Part-Time Job
Pay:$800weekly
Hours: Average of 11hrs weekly
This position will be home-based and it's a flexible part time job, you can be working from home, School, or any location
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Reporting Scams
If you received these messages (or any message similar to them), please report them as a phishing scam by forwarding the email message as an attachment to phish@pitt.edu. Detailed instructions on reporting scams are available at http://technology.pitt.edu/phishingscams.
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.