Original Phishing Message
From: nelsonbenedetto390[@]gmail[.]com
Subject: An Upright Piano Needs a New Home
Tips for Detection
- The sender is attempting to impersonate a current faculty member. Notice that the email address does not match the sender display name and is not a university email address.
- Beware of offers that are too good to be true, especially those with an emotional hook. Scammers frequently purport to give away valuable items such as instruments, cameras, welding equipment, or tools.
- With this type of phishing, the scammer typically adopts various personas to correspond with you – the purported piano owner and the moving company. What begins as a fairly benign email offering a “free” piano puts you on the financial hook when you are directed to make a payment to cover the cost of the piano delivery. Usually, they will ask for payment via Venmo or Zelle or Paypal or CashApp.
- If you are ever unsure whether an email is legitimate, you can always submit a ticket.
Text of Phishing Message
From: nelsonbenedetto390[@]gmail[.]com
Subject: An Upright Piano Needs a New Home
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
One of our staff members, Mr. Brian Dorgan, is downsizing to give away a valuable high quality piano that belonged to his late father. The Piano is a 2014 Yamaha Baby Grand size used like new. If you’re interested in the piano, kindly contact him on his email address at (Briandorgan[@]comic[.]com) for more information.
Best Regards,
Lisa Johnson