From Troy J. Hahn, Chief Information Officer:

Cyberattacks in the education and research sector are on the rise, with a record 75% increase in cyberattacks reported in 2021. The U.S. government recently issued another warning in the wake of a successful ransomware attack that disabled the California school district’s system. We regularly inform our community when email scams target the campus. 

This week, two email scams targeted the campus community, appearing to come from "Microsoft Support" or legitimate members of the Queens College community. Over the last several years, we have distributed notices regarding the following scams: 

• Employment scams (secret shopper or gift card scams) targeting students with lucrative offers of employment that have resulted in financial losses https://conta.cc/3uHSorG
• Zelle payment scams and smishing scams https://conta.cc/3jqfFb9
• Amazon phishing scam https://conta.cc/3d2R8Xa

We utilize multiple cybersecurity systems that automatically block many cyberattacks and have recently implemented MFA (multifactor authentication) on all Queens College email accounts to provide an extra layer of protection. However, our ability to keep users secure is critically dependent on the Queens College community being educated and skeptical about fraudulent messages. Please remain alert, as scams can happen at any time and dupe individuals of all ages and backgrounds and all levels of tech sophistication. 

Help us keep you safe! Here are some tips to avoid being scammed:

• Register for the CUNY Cybersecurity Awareness Training Register | CUNY 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness (enterprisetraining.com).
• Create unique and complex passwords, and never share your password with anyone!
• Do not provide personal information (home address, usernames, phone numbers etc.) in response to unsolicited emails, text messages, or websites that come from someone you do not know or from a suspicious email sender. ITS Support emails are sent from support@qc.cuny.edu; if you are unsure of the legitimacy of an email from us, log directly into the Fresh Service portal.
• Do not deposit checks from unknown senders.
• Do not click on links or open attachments in suspicious emails.
• Be wary of messages requesting urgent action.
• Log out of devices and applications at the end of every session.
• Report all suspicious emails to support@qc.cuny.edu.

Stay vigilant! 

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