CSIT has reports this morning that new instances of a likely scam have been received in many NWU mailboxes.  This potential scam originates from a compromised NWU accounts and, therefore, may seem superficially to be more trustworthy than they might otherwise.

The suspect message has the Subject “NWU: JOB OPPORTUNITY” suggesting that the message is in some way endorsed by the University.  The body of the message claims to be a recruitment for a job which doesn’t impact present employment or studies.  It also suggests possible compensation of up to $500 weekly.  A disguised  link is included in the message which, if followed, leads to a site soliciting contact information.  The “signature” again suggests a connection to NWU by purporting to come from “Job Placement and Student Services”.

The message is in no way connected to or endorsed by NWU.  There is no office with the title provided in the message and student employment opportunities are NOT handle in this way by the University.

Unlike phishing scams, this is not an attempt to immediately compromise your account or trick you into revealing confidential information.  It is rather an attempt to engage you with the scammer as they enlist you to some service.  In some cases, you would be asked to make purchases (supposedly to evaluate stores and services)  and transfer the value of the purchased items to the scammer.  The “money” you are advanced to make the purchases subsequently turns out to be fraudulent.  In other cases, the site acts only as an (unnecessary) broker for a fee.

If you have received any email of the sort described above, please delete it immediately.  If you have already acted on such an email message, stop communicating with the scammer immediately.