Many fraudulent job emails have been sent to students during the past few months, according to the Mississippi State University Career Center.
Many of these emails come from people claiming to be doctors or artists who need a personal assistant for a weekly pay of $500.
Usually, it is easy to spot a scam, but these phishing attempts have gotten more deceiving, even calling some job postings Mississippi State University positions. The emails will have a subject line stating, “MSU Work Study,” or “MSSTATE PAID JOB OFFER.” The message might state the reason for contacting a student is because of their financial aid status.
If students do not know what factors to look for to determine whether an email is legitimate, it is easy to fall victim to the scam.
Brooks Pilcher, a recent transfer and agriculture major, explained why he thought one of the emails was an actual job offer.
“I never used my email before and it is specifically for school, so no one could have had it… And the fact that they said that they got (my information) through financial aid,” Pilcher said.
First-time students may not know how to determine a fake email. The Career Center has tips for checking the authenticity of the job offers, according to Leslie Neal, the Career Center’s manager of marketing and events.
The first signs to look for are numerous typos and weird characters. If there are exclamation points, asterisks or dashes in the subject line, it is could be spam.
The Career Center’s main purpose is employment, so through students’ accounts, they can see a list of legitimate job offers. The center has a link on their website to Connections, a personalized place to look for employment.
In addition, Neal said to never give out personal information via email.
“The Career Center will never ask you for your account password, your social security number or any financial information,” Neal said.
Job recruiters will collect the personal information during an interview or after you are hired, she said.
Also, Neal said to check the email address from the person is sending you a job offer. If it is from an icloud.com domain or any other personal email, it may be a scam. The best way to check to see if an emailed job offer is real is to ask the Career Center.
There is a reason for why students are receiving many emails at this point in the year. Neal said she has noticed a trend in when the emails are sent.
“Peak times are in August, September and May, because that is recruiting season,” Neal said.
Steve Parrot, chief information officer of Information Technology Services, said a significant phishing email came over the summer, promising low hours and high wages.
“They’ve been flooded, and students have been responding to them,” Parrott said.
Neal said the Career Center will send emails for legitimate job postings. Usually, an MSU or Career Center letterhead will be legitimate. If the email has vague terms like “your career center,” then it may not be trustworthy.
If students are not careful, their bank account may be stolen from.
Harshini Devi Sampathkumar, the research and outreach committee chair for the International Student Advisory Board (ISAB), described one student who has fallen victim to these emails.
“I had a friend who went through with the emails,” Sampathkumar said. “He was charged close to $1,000.”
Neal has said no one has gotten his or her identity stolen. If a student does go further than reading the email and the scammer hacks into their bank account, she said the Career Center cannot do anything. At that point, the police will have to get involved.