Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Security, Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Working from home became a new routine since the COVID-19 pandemic. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of every piece of news they come across, targeting employees working from home with fake termination phishing emails.

This fraudulent email appears to come from your organization’s Human Resources department or a manager. It contains a meeting invite asking you to join a virtual meeting to review an early retirement or termination package due to COVID-19 downsizing. This fake email caries an alarming subject line such as “Termination Review Meeting” and directs you to click on a link to join the virtual meeting. Clicking on this phishing link may direct you to a virtual meeting login page to steal your credentials. It is important that you:

1. Verify the virtual meeting platform used by your School or Center. Directly contact your IT support group or your manager to verify if the message is authentic. 
2. Hover over the from: email address to ensure it originated from the University of Pennsylvania (e.g., username@upenn.edu) or your School or Center (e.g., username@isc.upenn.edu). 
3. DO NOT click on any link or attachment included in the email message; that click may install malware to your device enabling cybercriminals to steal your sensitive information. 
4. Avoid sharing your School or Center's internal meeting links with those outside of your group. A shared public link could enable uninvited attendees to join your meeting, to post unsolicited information, or collect attendees' information.

If you receive an email invite to discuss early retirement or termination, or your think you may have fallen victim to such a scam, please report the incident to your School or Center IT support group, or contact the Office of Information Security at phishing@isc.upenn.edu

For additional information, visit OIS advisory COVID-19 scam–Be Aware of Fake Termination Email Invite at https://www.isc.upenn.edu/COVID19Scam-termination

--

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: 

https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead