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There are several variants of this scam, but they all follow a similar pattern. The scammer will first send you a phishing email, often from a generic email address, such as a Gmail address. The email will claim to originate from Kent State or one of the services used for student banking, such as BankMobile. There will be a message, either in the body of the email or attached as a document (Word document, PDF file, TXT file, etc). The message's wording will be different between scams, but will usually claim that you must claim your funds quickly by clicking a link or calling a phone number to verify your information.

Once you click this link or call the number, you will be asked for a great deal of sensitive information. This can include your full name, your personal email addresses and phone numbers, your FlashLine and BankMobile passwords, and even your social security number. If you provide your contact information, you may also be contacted by the scammer, who will ask you for additional information and details about any multi-factor authentication (MFA) that you have set up on your accounts.

If the attacker is able to obtain this information from you, they can gain access to your FlashLine and BankMobile accounts. They will be able to see any banking information that you have stored there, including account numbers. They can use this to withdraw money from your accounts. Furthermore, with your name, age, and social security number, there is a strong chance that they will attempt to steal your identity. Attackers can use your identity to make purchases and open lines of credit in your name.

This is a very dangerous scam that can lead to theft of your funds and identity. Therefore, it is important to know the signs of this scam, its red flags, and how to detect them. The most common red flags in these scams are as follows:

• Unusual sender: If you receive an email asking you to provide information regarding your university-related finances, check the sender's email address. ºÚÁÏÍø, BankMobile, banks, and other legitimate organizations and financial services will send emails using addresses that they own, not a personal email address like a Gmail or Outlook address.
   
• Asked to click a link: Does this email ask you to click a link? Before you do, hover over the link to see where it really leads. This scam will often ask you to click a link, which will lead to a webpage that asks for your information. If you hover over the link and see that it leads to an unfamiliar website, or somewhere different than where the message claims it leads, do not click the link.
   
• Odd formatting: Was the email sent to you with nothing in its body? Does it have strange wording or mispellings? Does it contain an oddly-named attachment and lack any branding or logos? Poor formatting and misspellings are red flags that indicate the message was not sent from a legitimate and trustworthy source.
   
• Asked for sensitive information: Does the email ask you for your account's credentials, such as passwords or MFA information? Are you told to supply your social security number, date of birth, and other personal information? Legitimate companies will never ask for your password, which includes Kent State. Never provide your password to any email, text, or document that asks for it. Also, do not provide sensitive personal information to untrusted sources. If you cannot verify that you are sending information through a secure service (such as a company's official website) or talking with a legitimate representative of that company, do not send any information.

The screenshot below shows a real example of a financial aid phishing email that was sent to a member of the ºÚÁÏÍø community. Can you spot all of the red flags in this message?

The best thing for you to do when you get this scam is to report it! Forward the email you received to phish@kent.edu so that our team can remove the message from the mail system. This helps protect anyone else who may have received the email from falling victim to the scam. You can also report the scam to the companies that the email was trying to impersonate, such as BankMobile or your bank. You can read more ways to report phishing emails here.

If the scammer tried to contact you with a text message, you can block their phone number and report the message to your cellular service provider.

Once you have reported the scam, it is best to simply delete the email or text without responding to it.

If you believe you may have fallen victim to this scam, you will need to contact ºÚÁÏÍø's security team immediately at security@kent.edu or 330-672-5566. If you provided any information about your accounts with your bank or another financial service, you will need to contact your bank and the other financial services involved as soon as possible.

You can read more details about recovering from a scam and securing your accounts here.