Published 2011-08-23T20:27:00Z”/>
Griffin Rogers
Frauds targeted students’ Wildcat inboxes this summer in a digital mailbox bashing.
Some students received an email with the subject headline, “URGENT! PART TIME JOB OFFER.” Enclosed was a letter from a fabricated person offering a job that allowed students to work from home and make $250 a week in their free time.
It sounded like a summer dream job, but in reality, it was a scam.
The people responsible were using an illegal scheme known as a Nigerian scam, said Information Security Manager Ed Hudson. This is different from other scams, such as phishing, because the people running the con are looking to take money directly, instead taking of information as a means of accessing victim’s money.
<strong>Here’s how it works:</strong>
The scammer acquires student email addresses through the campus directory or using an automated computer program that generates hundreds of email addresses. Then, a computer program likely trickles out a few hundred fake job offers every 30 minutes to avoid triggering any security systems, Hudson said.
If a student takes the bait, they’ll receive instructions along with a check in the mail – in this case, students received a $2,880 check.
Students are then instructed to keep about $400 and transfer the remainder to the scammer’s account, so the thief can disburse the money to other “agents” since he/she often lives in a foreign country, Hudson said.
The scammer hopes students will transfer the money before they try cashing their $2,880 check, which will bounce.
A mass email was sent to warn students of the scam on Aug. 4, after the Career Planning and Placement Office received calls about a job offer that didn’t exist, Director James Starmer said.
“The promise that you’re gong to make a whole bunch of money clouds people’s perception,” Starmer said. “And that’s what these people hope for.”
<strong>The Aftermath:</strong>
Once they realized something strange was happening, the Career Center notified Hudson at the Information Security Office.
The system was immediately checked for breaches, but none were found.
Then the school sent out emails to help any students trapped in the scam.
However, no Chico State students have reported financial losses as of Friday, Hudson said. Of the 10 or so students who reported to the school about seeing the fake email, only a few were actually involved.
A couple students were even contacted by the scammers over the phone when they hadn’t transferred the money.
Police departments were notified in the areas where students received the emails, but the criminal, or criminals, responsible are still at large.
Nevertheless, Hudson did find a few clues.
He found that the counterfeit checks were being sent from a FedEx in Amarillo, Texas. He also discovered that the address linked to the scammer’s bank account was actually a vacant lot located in a small town in
north Texas.
Still, the likelihood of the swindler getting caught is small, Hudson said. This is because the scam keeps spreading.
For example, tracing a fake check back to its sender could mean finding the last victim who was simply following orders to send it to the next victim.
Many times, the “agents” in the description are actually other people about to be scammed.
“One of the reasons they are so prevalent is that they’re so easy to get away with,” Hudson said.
At first it was thought that incoming freshmen were the only target, but Hudson later confirmed that the fake job offer was being sent at random.
Ryan Clark, a freshman statistics major, received the fraudulent email over summer, but disregarded it as spam.
“It seemed to good to be true,” Clark said.
In order to keep clear of scams, Clark said he only follows up on emails from friends and companies he can trust.
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<strong>Griffin Rogers can be reached at</strong>
<em>[email protected]</em>
