While the holidays are a great time for all to relax and enjoy the company of family and friends, scammers are working non-stop to cheat you out of money or gain access to your accounts. Remaining vigilant during this time is imperative to ensure the security of your user accounts and your bank and other financial accounts.
While all the usual scams are still likely during this time, we often see an increase in a few particular styles of scams that are detailed below.
- Fake receipts for items that you did not purchase.
- These types of scams are often designed to look as though they were sent by a legitimate retailer. Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. are the more common ones seen. The email will include an item, such as a TV, and include the cost and a link to process a return or cancellation of the order. The goal is to get the victim to click the link and complete any information on the form, which potentially includes credit card information.
- Fake invoices for purchases.
- These types of scams are requesting payment for services or for items purchased. They will often be designed to look like a PayPal email or might even be sent directly through PayPal. Before making payment or clicking any links, ensure that the service or item is something you actually purchased. PayPal offers a method to report invoices as fraudulent.
- Gift card spear phishing emails.
- These are targeted scams designed to look as though they came from a department head or member of the president’s cabinet. They will often start with a simple message “Are you available? I can’t talk on the phone.” These emails will be sent from an email address that is not a providence.edu address, often a Gmail account. If you respond, they will follow up by requesting you purchase gift cards and send the card numbers via email.
- Benefits scams
- A common scam that occurs around the end of the calendar or fiscal year or even around typical open enrollment periods is a scam that pretends to be a benefit vendor affiliated with the college. If you are unsure if the email is from a vendor affiliated with the college, you can verify the vendors used by the college at the HR Benefits Page or by forwarding the email to hr@providence.edu.
The success of each of these scams is dependent upon an unsuspecting user letting down their guard and following through on the fraudulent request. They look to trick you into believing that the email came from a legitimate source. You can verify the legitimacy of an email by checking the following:
- Ensure the sender’s email domain matches what you would expect from the business.
- Scams often contain poor grammar or typos.
- Your email address is in the CC or BCC field rather than the To field.
As always, if you have any concerns about an email, you can request that the Helpdesk verify the legitimacy by sending a copy of it to helpdesk@providence.edu.
