Author: Mark Rodee

“GREAT PART TIME JOBS: Personal Assistant, Dog Walker, Car wrap advertising or mystery shopping” is what the email you receive claims; they ask you to cash a check, cashier’s check, money order or an electronically delivered check to cover supplies or any number of reasons. The emails are scams that will cost you time and money.

The checks typically look real, and by the time the bank figures it out, the scammer is gone, and the bank has taken the money from your account. Be very careful of gift cards and digital money apps when working with people you do not personally know.

Unsure if an email is a scam? What to look for in fraud emails:

• They ask you to contact a free email service instead of the organization, that’s a red flag.
• The sender builds urgency so you don’t question the details.
• They spell words in odd ways, such as “Part_time,” or use zeros instead of the letter “o.”
• They send you a picture of text instead of text.
• The job offer sound amazing, little work, amazing employer, no interview and you never asked for it.
• They ask you to send them money via an online money transfer service.
• They email wanting you specifically, but then they ask for your name and email address.

Send potential scam emails to spamreport@wichita.edu. Have additional questions? Contact the information security department at Askinfosec@wichita.edu.

Watch out for email frauds. Unknown senders emailing you unsolicited job offers and requesting that you cash large checks on their behalf are likely scams.

Watch out for the following in fraud emails:

• The sender of the message is not the person offering the job.
• The jobs being promoted are too good to be true, like a personal assistant position who works from home with few responsibilities and large payouts.
• The email address is from a free email service when the job is for a prestigious international organization. Those organizations have their own email address that official emails will be sent from.
• The email will ask that you use a free email service as a “reading test” or a “test of your attentiveness.” This helps them bypass fraud monitoring tools.
• An insistence that conversations are only conducted via email or text, with statements around the inability to meet in person or speak over the phone due to “being busy” or “on travel.”
• A request to cash checks they mailed to you, and a request of you to send them the money back via a cash app like Venmo or PayPal.
• There is no job application or other job paperwork alongside the email.

Never cash checks received from an unknown source. With fake checks, once the bank finds out, they will take the money out of the account.

Suspicious emails that are likely frauds can be emailed to spamreport@wichita.edu.

We have seen an increase in fake job offers. If anyone has sent you an email with an unsolicited job and an offer to send you a large amount of money in checks, this is most likely a scam.

Examples of this fraud requests:

• The sender does not work at the organization.
• The reply-to address is a free email account (such as Gmail or Yahoo) for jobs at prestigious international organizations. Those organizations have their own email address and never use free email.
• As a reading test, they ask that you contact them from a free email service. This helps them bypass fraud monitoring tools.
• Conversations only over email and text with statements around the inability to speak due to being busy or traveling.
• Checks are mailed to you to cash, and they ask you to send them the money via a cash app.
• They cannot meet you in person and only speak via text and email.
• There is no job application or other job paperwork.

Never cash checks received from an unknown source. Once the bank finds out it is a fake check, it will take the money from your account.

Concerned the email is a scam? Send it to spamreport@wichita.edu.

It’s always phishing season, but with the return to classes, our campus community often sees an increase in phishing messages.

Key things to look for to protect your computer:

• The sender’s email address is unexpected, or the style of communications is abnormal. For example, your manager emailing you asking for your cell phone number or to buy gift cards.
• A generic greeting is used rather than one that is more personalized and includes your name.
• The message includes poor grammar and misspellings.
• There is a need for an urgent action in the message.
• The message asks you to use a non-university email account, such as @gmail.com or @yahoo.com, or includes a text message to you directly.
• Any requests to purchase gift cards.
• Any job offers that mail you checks to cash and send the money back.

What to know:

• University policy does not allow the purchase of gift cards.
• If you cash a fake check for a fake job, the bank will pull the funds from your personal account.
• If it’s too good to be true, it is!

What to do:

• Report any suspected spam to spamreport@wichita.edu.
• If you did not request a Duo MFA push approval and you are getting them, hit deny and contact askinfosec@wichita.edu or contact us at 978-4SEC.

Help protect the Wichita State community by knowing what information not to share via email. Email communication outside of WSU is not guaranteed to be secure since those emails may not be encrypted. Depending on the type of data, regulatory compliance requirements could require additional protection before it is emailed.

Examples of information that should not be emailed are:

• Social security number
• Driver’s license number or state ID number
• Passport number or alien registration number
• Personal financial account numbers
• Medical information
• Date of birth
• Mother’s maiden name
• Non-onetime passwords or any authentication credentials
• Credit card numbers

For more information, contact askinfosec@wichita.edu or view WSU’s Acceptable Use Policy 19.01.

Due to State of Kansas policy requirements, starting the weekend of July 2, a new log-on warning will be rolling out over the course of the weekend to all university devices

What is a log-on warning? Prior to logging onto any device on campus, a log-on warning will appear on the screen. The log-on warning defines that the system is monitored for improper use and directs users to read the acceptable use policy located at www.wichita.edu/aup. This does not impact the usage of the device and will appear before every log-on.

Who will get this message? All WSU-owned devices, including Apple macOS and Windows. There will be no change to NIAR’s warning as part of the deployment.

Why do we need this? The state policy has made log-on warnings a requirement among institutions and agencies. Additionally, this helps to ensure we meet compliance obligations undertaken by many areas of the university.

When will this happen? Starting July 2, the change will go into effect across campus. It may take a few days to appear on your WSU-owned device, or longer if you are off campus.

Have questions or concerns? Let us know @ askinfosec@wichita.edu