Aug. 14, 2019 - Have you received an unsolicited email or contact that is promising easy money for little or no effort? The message usually comes from an "employer" using a web-based email account (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook).
These emails are intended to entice unknowing citizens who may be interested in earning extra cash. The "employer" will not provide a specific job description and will ask you to open up a bank account in your name or in the name of a company to receive and transfer money. As an employee, you will be asked to receive funds into the account you set up and "process" or "transfer" the funds via wire transfer, ACH, mail, or money service business (like Wester Union or MoneyGram). You will be promised a portion of the money you transfer.
In order to protect yourself against these types of scams, you should remember the following:
- A legitimate company will not ask you to use your bank account to transfer their money
- Never give your financial details to someone you don't know and trust, especially those you meet online
- Be wary when job advertisements are poorly written with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes
- Perform online searches to verify details
Most importantly, remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is and should be ignored.
For more information contact the CSUCI Information Security Team at infosec@csuci.edu or visit https://www.csuci.edu/its/security.
Information provided above was gathered from the FBI news website.