Scammers hijack Rutgers emails to pull off brazen fake hiring scheme

🚨Rutgers-affiliated individuals were targeted in a fake job scam

🚨Victims deposited bogus checks and sent real money back to the scammer

🚨 Rutgers police say the school will never ask for money for a job

NEW BRUNSWICK — Several individuals connected with Rutgers University were victims of a scam involving fake checks.

Rutgers police say the victims received an email in their Rutgers email account from someone identifying themself as a faculty or staff member offering a job. After accepting the "position" the individuals were sent counterfeit checks with instructions to deposit it in a bank and then send them the money via a digital payment platform like Cash App, Zelle or Paypal.

The individual is told the money will be used to purchase the required equipment for the job. Instead, after the payments were sent all communication with the victims stopped.

Police did not disclose if the victims were students, only that they are "affiliated" with the university.

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Rutgers police warn of red flags in employment scams

Police say that the emails hid their actual addresses and used "decoy" versions of actual Rutgers email addresses to make them look real

The school will never ask someone to purchase gift cards, prepaid cards, or cryptocurrency to secure a job or for any work-related tasks, according the police.

Other sure signs of a scam:

⚫ Asking for a PIN or for money to be deposited into an account.  Police say anyone receiving such a request should end communications

⚫ Never use contact information included in a suspicious email.

⚫ Verify job postings through official university channels.

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