Phishing campaigns making headlines at the start of Fall 2026
The start of the semester is always a time for malicious actors to ramp up their attempts to steal your money and data. Be on the lookout for these scams and stay vigilant!
Phishing campaigns making headlines at the start of Fall 2026
The start of the semester is always a time for malicious actors to ramp up their attempts to steal your money and data. Be on the lookout for these scams and stay vigilant!
As the Fall 2026 semester gets underway, the Information Security Office sends out a reminder to be wary of various scams targeting students, faculty, and staff.
Here are some recent scams we are seeing. Stay safe out there!
Via SMS: Gift card purchasing scam
One of the most common scams involves a malicious actor posing as an authority figure and asking someone (usually an employee or someone with a business relationship to the figure they’re impersonating) to purchase hundreds of dollars’ worth of gift cards. The malicious actor then requests the person transfer the gift cards to them.
This is a common scamming technique, to try and trick you into replying to a message because it appears to be from a reliable and important source.
We are already seeing versions of this scam impacting folks at Miami. Earlier this week, the ISO was alerted to an instance where a student was asked to purchase gift cards after receiving a text from who they thought was an authority figure in their area of study. Thankfully, that student did not transfer the gift cards to the malicious actor, and they are working with their credit card company to mark the charges as fraudulent. However, this drives home our message: Take a second, third, and fourth look at any messages that come to you, especially if those messages are asking you to spend your money.
Via phone call: Arrest warrant scam
Another member of our community recently received a phone call from someone claiming that there was a warrant out for their arrest for missed jury duty. The person was asked to pay a fee to “remove the warrant,” when in reality there is no actual warrant.
The strategy here is simple: elicit an immediate emotional response from someone who will then take action (usually meaning sending money to the scammer).
Via email: Job opportunities for research assistantships
A perennial scam we see is the offer for student research assistantships. Often, there is urgency involved, and the message indicates that the student would be paid a lot of money for little work.
The email usually notes there is a pressing need for student research assistants at Miami, and asks students to send some personal information to the sender. This is a common phishing practice to try to get recipients to respond to a message with personal data, build a relationship with the contact, and then request personal data like Unique IDs, Social Security numbers, or bank account information.
Stay vigilant!
The Information Security Office recommends that students, faculty, and staff treat unsolicited email, phone calls, and text messages with a high degree of skepticism. If you receive a similar email or text, simply delete the message and do not reply, and do not open the message. If you have already responded to this or any similar messages, please contact IT Help immediately.
If you receive a message that is questionable please forward it to InfoSec@MiamiOH.edu, or you may contact IT Help at 513-529-7900.