Please beware that there is currently an employment scam email targeting students and staff circulating throughout the Carleton community.
These scams typically offer jobs as personal assistants, secret shoppers or marketers. They may request that you visit a website or send an email to apply for a job. The messages may be masquerading as offering employment through or from the university. These are attempts at obtaining personal information (e.g., name and address, social insurance number, banking info.) They may also ask you to cash cheques or request that you purchase items for them such as gift cards or Bitcoin.
DO NOT provide any personal information, send a reply, nor interact with the sender in any way.
Recent examples of this scam include messages with subject lines such as:
Vacant Position
WORK FROM HOME
Seeking a part time Administrative Assistant
ACT NOW
Part-time work offer
Running personal errands
Personal Assistant
* Carleton University
Carleton University Employment Offer For Staff and Students
Part-time work offer for current staff/students
PERSONAL ASSISTANT NEEDED
GOOD DEY
JOB OPPORTUNITY!!!
Job Offer
How can you tell if an email or online post is a scam?
- The email appears to come from someone at the University, but has an [External Email] tag, it may be a phishing message
- Requires a fee to apply for a job or asks you to send money, Bitcoin, gift card, cheques, etc.
- Requests your password or directs you to a webform asking for your password
- Has an immediate action such as “download this now” or “click on the link below”
- Tries to invoke an emotional response to get you to take an action without thinking
- Is filled with spelling and grammatical errors
See an example of Employment Offer below:
For more information on phishing emails, visit the ITS Information Security Phishing website.
For more information on scams and how to protect yourself, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre .
If you suspect you may be a victim of this type of scam, please contact Campus Safety Services immediately.