Harvard University police warn of phishing scams towards school affiliates

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Harvard University Police Department are issuing warnings of phishing scams against the community, targeting the university affiliates.

According to police, the scams seem to come from falsified school email accounts that appear to offer the recipients of the email free musical instruments in exchange for payment of delivery costs.

Other emails that people have received seem to come from alleged students seemingly looking to either purchase gift cards, or professors looking for job opportunities or to send job applications.

The scammers will ask the recipients to text them, and ask for payment by an online money transfer, typically from PayPal, CashApp, or Venmo.

In addition to these phishing scams, police have also received numerous reports of spoofing emails and cyberbullying incidents.

If you or someone you know has been scammed, there are ways that you can report it:

Local Police Departments
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov/
If the scammers obtained your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov (https://www.identitytheft.gov/), to see what steps to take including how to monitor your credit.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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