Congratulations! You have been awarded federal financial aid that you don’t have to pay back. Does that sound phishy?
K-State is being targeted with a federal financial aid phishing scam. The email is promising free money in exchange for your driver’s license or state ID.
What are some indicators that this is a scam even though it looks legitimate?
- Free money should definitely raise a flag. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Not visible in the image above, but this scam comes from a K-State email address instead of a Federal Student Aid email address.
- How many grammatical errors can you spot? It is typical for phishing emails to have grammatical errors.
- Before clicking on a link, hover over it to see where the link is directed to. In this case, it was not directed to the federal financial aid website.
Steps to take if you have succumbed to the scam
- Contact the IT Help Desk as your account may be compromised.
- Change your eID password.
- Alert your banking institution that you have been a victim of identity theft.
- Report your identity theft at https://identitytheft.gov.
- Verify that your direct deposit information has not been changed.
If you are not sure about an email, please don’t respond. The Division of Information Technology can determine if an email is a scam. Send the questionable email to abuse@ksu.edu.
Share this message far and wide. If you have any questions, contact the IT Help Desk (helpdesk@k-state.edu).
