Personal Assistant Job Scam
The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has been notified that a scammer is sending out phishing emails claiming to offer an interim personal assistant job available. The offer is a fake. Below is an example of this scam.
From: DJ2205831 <DJ2205831@pusdk12.org> Date: Tue, Jan 12, 2021 Subject: University of maryland, baltimore county apply for spring winter p/t jobs work from school/home offer for students 2021 To: <@umbc.edu>
I am Annette Bonner, my specializations are foot and ankle, athletic injuries, shoulder and elbow, trauma and fractures, sports medicine, and arthroscopic surgery. Also interested in procedures of replacing shoulders and knees.
This message was sent to your email because you have an opportunity from the University Office for Students with Disabilities to work with me to help and assist students with disabilities frustrated with ignorance and lack of services but as my interim personal assistant. I can assure you this employment is very simple, all you need to do are purchase some items when needed, mailing of letters, and making payments at Walmart and this employment won't take much of your time at least two hours daily and three times in a week for ($450).
I am unable to meet up with you for an interview since I am away currently helping the disabled students in Australia, for all the purchases and tasks to get done on my behalf while I am still away, you will be paid in advance. Upon my arrival we will discuss the possibility of making this a long-term employment that if you do really impress me with your services while I am away. My arrival is scheduled for the end of January 2021.
To Apply : Please forward all applications including Full name, Address, Alternate email (different from school email) and mobile number Attached Resume( Its okay if you do not have resume to attach). Please its highly important that you reply and send above information to my personal email address(boseannette85@gmail.com) so i can respond back to you ASAP.
Best Regards
Professor Annette Bonner |
In the example above it can be seen that the email is sent from <DJ2205831@pusdk12.org> and has the subject “University of maryland, baltimore county apply for spring winter p/t jobs work from school/home offer for students 2021”. The phishing email itself is claiming to offer students a job as the scammer’s interim personal assistant. The scammer is asking that applicants respond by emailing their personal information. If you have received this email please do not respond.
Please note that in the phishing email above the scammer states that they can not give an interview. This is a red flag as most jobs would want some sort of interview or meeting process or at least a telephone call before hiring anyone. Another red flag is that the email uses words like “high important that you reply,” this gives the user a sense of urgency which can be a sign of phishing and job scam emails.
Of course, the terrible grammar and punctuation are not what you would expect from a professor of medicine, either. It is also odd that the message asks the applicant to respond to boseannette85@gmail.com when the message itself came from a different address, DJ2205831@pusdk12.org.
Always be alert for inconsistencies, especially when contacted unexpectedly, especially when contacted by strangers, and most especially when money is involved.
What to do now?
If you do receive this or a similar scam, please DO NOT respond any further or click on any URLs. If you have provided any banking or financial information, please notify your bank or financial institution immediately. If you have been sent a check, you should not attempt to cash or deposit it. If you have deposited a check already, please contact your bank and tell them that it may be part of a scam.
Whether or not you responded to the scam or not, please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu. We will also keep track of any other information you submit about the scammers, such as their phone numbers. If you were sent a check or other materials, please send pictures of it and the envelope they came in.
How do I forward full email headers?
https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970
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Posted: January 14, 2021, 1:45 AM