Career Services and the rest of Penn State’s Office of Student Affairs are warning students of potentially fraudulent emails that are being sent out by senders posing as Penn State emails and promoting employment opportunities.

The warning noted that scams have been reported to be related to survey recruitment exercises, secret shoppers, and work-study opportunities. Additionally, companies allegedly mentioned in these emails included the Apple Store, Job Placement and Student Services, Indeed Hiring Lab, Dr. Elena Gonzalez Ph.D., University Office for Students with Disabilities, and Littoral Consumer Metrics.

Officials advised students and faculty to delete and block any emails or phone calls resembling these warnings and provided a list of guidelines to prevent scamming.

Their guidelines include:

DO NOT:

• Provide personal bank account, PayPal account, credit card, driver’s license and/or passport information.
• Participate in wiring or transferring funds from a personal bank account or PayPal account to another account. (Oftentimes you may be asked to retain a portion of the funds as payment.)
• Agree to have funds or payments direct deposited into your account without knowing and verifying the employer first.
• Pay upfront fees for an employer to hire you (there may be some rare exceptions to this).

Any additional questions can be directed to Career Services at [email protected].