How to spot a fake message

Fake messages are the most common way student accounts get hacked or taken over. A few habits will catch nearly all of them.

Check the address, not the name

Anyone can set the name that shows at the top of a message. A message can say it's from "Barber-Scotia IT" or "Financial Aid Office" and still come from a personal Gmail account.

Tap or click the sender's name to see the actual address. Real College mail comes from an address ending in @b-sc.edu. Watch for lookalikes such as b-sc.org, bsc-edu.com, or b-sc.edu.something-else.com.

You'll hear from several BSC addresses, and that's normal

Enrollment, your dean, your advisor, financial aid, and IT all write from their own addresses. Getting mail from an address you haven't seen before isn't suspicious on its own.

What matters is what the message asks you to do.

Look at the link before you tap it

On a phone, press and hold a link to see where it actually goes. On a computer, hover over it and look at the bottom of the window.

The text of a link can say anything. What matters is the address that appears, and specifically what comes right before the first single slash. If that isn't b-sc.edu, don't tap it.

Urgency plus a threat is the pattern

Almost every fake message combines a deadline with a consequence. Your account will be closed today. Your financial aid has been suspended. Your enrollment will be cancelled unless you act now.

The pressure is the point. It's there so you'll click before you think. Real College business gives you time, and if something genuinely is urgent, you can always reach the office directly instead of using a link in the message.

Watch for fake job offers

Scammers target college email addresses with offers for campus jobs, personal assistant work, or paid research that pays unusually well for very little work. These are among the most common scams aimed at students, and they can cost real money.

The pattern is consistent. You're hired without an interview, then sent a check to deposit and asked to send part of it somewhere else or buy gift cards. The check bounces days later and the money comes out of your account.

Real BSC jobs are posted through the College and never involve depositing a check and forwarding money.

Other things worth a second look

• An attachment you weren't expecting, especially one that asks you to enable something to view it
• A greeting that doesn't use your name, like Dear Student or Dear User
• A reply-to address that's different from the sender
• A request to move the conversation to text or WhatsApp
• Anything asking for your password, no matter who it appears to come from

When you're not sure

Don't use the links or phone numbers in the message. Go to the office directly, or forward it to helpdesk@b-sc.edu and ask.

Asking about a real message costs you nothing. We would much rather answer ten questions about legitimate mail than clean up one hacked or compromised account.