As people put more and more information online, Internet scammers are using it to their advantage.
Joseph Bazeley, the information security officer of IT Services is sending out more notices than usual this year even though the number of incidents is no higher than last year.
"It's a constant problem," Bazeley said. "We could post [notices] everyday."
Even though there are a high number of cases, some students, like first-year Christie Huidekoper, ignore or delete the notices that IT Services sends.
Bazeley said for the most part, IT Services hears about these scams through students.
If a scam is blatantly obvious students report it, but sometimes telling a scam from a legitimate email is not easy, according to Bazeley.
"We get messages sent to support asking if [the message] is real or fake," Bazeley said. Scams can be something that everyone knows to look out for, like a Nigerian Prince asking for help, but some are much less suspicious. According to Bazeley, the number of scams involving tax information is about to rise.
"Most of the scams revolve around greed or fear," Bazeley said. "Scams claiming to be the IRS either informing the recipient of a bigger return or money owed become very popular around tax season."
Some scammers want to gain access to the victims email in order to send spam mail, usually advertising pharmaceuticals that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, through their email, according to Bazeley.
Bazeley said he recommends changing all passwords and security questions if this happens to ensure the scammer can no longer access your account.
Some scams will try to install software onto the victim's computer. Sometimes this software will give the scammer the ability to host a website on the victim's computer but it can also be used for identity theft, Bazeley said.
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"Keylogger [software] captures everything that you type on your computer," Bazeley said. "All the scammer would have to do from that point is to sit back and wait for the victim to check their bank account or order something online."
A scammer who wants to steal your identity or gain access to your credit or bank account is likely to ask for personal information.
"They want your social security number, your name and your address. All of the core pieces to identity theft," Bazeley said.
According to Bazeley, most scammers are not prosecuted for their actions.
"99 percent of them slip through the cracks," Bazeley said.
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