Dear Lehigh faculty, students, and staff:

The Lehigh University Information Security Team wants you to be aware of possible job scams this semester. There are several warning signs that indicate an email message is likely a job scam.

  • The “employer” refuses to meet in-person and wants to use your personal email rather than your Lehigh email address.
  • Offers to work-from-home/remote for $200-$400 per week with bonuses for just a few hours of work.
  • Offers to send you a check in exchange for your bank account information for “future direct deposit.” The check they will send is fake. The bank will cash it but it will ‘bounce’ several days later.
  • Requires you to purchase gift cards to prove you completed a task. Never send a picture of a gift card with the pin scratched off.
  • Offers for Personal Assistant positions or work such as “Running personal errands,” “secret shopper,” or “price checking.”

If you receive one of these emails please forward them to security@lehigh.edu. We will use this information to protect others in the Lehigh community.

If you are a victim of this scam and have provided money, or financial or personal information (i.e. Social Security Number or Passport ID), take the following actions immediately:

  • Stop payments. Contact the fraud department of your bank, "cash app" or financial institution and tell them you are a victim of a scam. They may be able to stop or recover any payments.
  • Report this crime to your local police department. If you are currently living on campus this would be the Lehigh University Police Department. If you live off-campus, then search for your police department's non-emergency number to report the crime.

If you have any questions, please contact the Lehigh Information Security Team at security@lehigh.edu.

Sincerely,

Eric Zematis, CISSP, CISM, PMP
Chief Information Security Officer