Student Phishing

Students of SUNY Westchester Community College are unfortunately being sent Spam/Phishing emails by Cyber Criminals to their college email addresses; These criminals are hoping to:

  • Obtain Personal information (e.g. SS#’s, D.O.B, Address, Bank Account #, Credit Card #’s, Passwords)
  • Get you to transfer/wire money because they are in need of financial help
  • Get you to purchase gift cards and various services
  • Apply for free offers and opportunities (e.g. Free Trips, Unbelievable Jobs Opportunities, Secret Shopper)
  • Many of these types of e-mails are unsolicited and are NOT affiliated with any legitimate businesses or services.

Here are 3 steps that will help you to protect yourself:

1.DO NOT PROVIDE PERSONAL INFORMATION TO ANYONE within an email. Personal Information is considered:

  • Social Security #’s
  • Date of Birth (D.O.B)
  • Bank Account #’s
  • Credit Card #’s
  • Passwords

2. IDENTIFYING FRAUDULENT EMAIL:

  • An email asking you to deposit a check and then transfer/wire money back to the sender
  • An email asking you to purchase gift cards that you can exchange for larger sums of money or services
  • An email requesting for your address or bank account information to pay you money that was over paid by you for an item or service
  • An email asking you to click on a link to win a prize
  • An email claiming that their opportunities can make you rich
  • An email that at first glance appears to have been sent by the College or by other WCC Students but is asking you for personal information. Note: The college will never ask you for any personal information as stated above via email

3. REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS EMAIL:

    • ​​​Report any suspicious/malicious emails using Microsoft’s reporting feature

How to report suspicious emails via your student email

  1. Click on the suspected phishing scam email
  2. Click the down arrow (V) next to Junk on the tool bar
  3. Click Phishing

Note: Reporting may not prevent similar phishing/scam e-mails from being sent to your mailbox
If you have any questions of concerns about how these instructions, please contact the MyWCC Student HelpDesk at 914-606-5600