Phishing Email: Benefit Cheque Scam

Description of Phishing Email 

A common phishing email pretending to be from an organization that approves grants for students. The sender doesn’t include any personal information of the recipient and asks users to send their name, school, mobile phone number, and personal email to a Hotmail account. They send these emails to thousands of recipients in the hopes that a few will reply with personal information. 

Screenshot of Phishing Email 

Text of the Phishing Email: 

Dear Qualified student, 

Congratulations to you as you have been approved to receive a benefit check from {organization}. This check is to support students in catering for their school needs, medical and personal expenses during the school calendar year. You are not liable to repay this fund as it is not a loan but a grant to support students and members of the disabled communities. You will be getting a payment via check from which part of it you will use to support the disabled community. You are to contact your claims agent via his email only {name of claims officer} and it is necessary to contact him with your personal email. 

Your Payment officer who will oversee your claims. Take note of his contact email stated below where you are to send the below information as this notification email is sent only and will not be responding to any claims sent here. 

1. Full names,
2. Name of University 
3. Valid Mobile Number 
4. Personal email. 

Response to this email must come from your personal email account and not your educational email. Also, this is a non-reply email and claims application must be sent directly to {name of claims officer} only. Failure to comply with this simple instruction means your eligibility for this grant will be disregarded. Also note that we are only approving 100 applicants for this grant and once we reach this number this notification will be retracted from your Inbox. 

The payment process will commence as soon as we receive your claims application which must be sent to the below details. 

Claims Officer: {name of claims officer} 

Email: {email for claims officer} 

Regards
{organization} 

How to Protect Yourself? 

1. Avoid Sharing Personal Information: Do not provide any personal or financial information in response to unsolicited offers. Scammers may use this information for identification theft or other malicious activities.
   
2. Be Skeptical of Unsolicited Offers: Treat unexpected emails offering grants you do not need to repay with caution, especially if you did not initiate the conversation or express interest beforehand.

3. Verify the Sender: Always verify the identity of individuals claiming to be someone important, especially if the message seems out of the ordinary and is asking for personal information. 

Important Notes: 

1. Report Suspicious Messages: Reporting phishing attempts helps prevent others from falling victim to these attacks. Send suspicious messages to is-spam@mcmaster.ca for review and investigation.

2. Educate Yourself: Learn about common phishing tactics. Consider participating in the Information Security Training Program to protect against cyber threads and secure your digital world.