Impersonation Scam
“The email looked like it was from a business I knew.”
The scammer may pose as a business, government agency, company employee or vendor you work with. They send you a spoofed email (appearing to be from a legit source) or use a fake caller ID, requesting a change in payment or creating a false sense of urgency to send funds due to fraud or a late payment. At times, they will ask you to transfer money or deposit a check for expenses and refund the balance.
Helpful Tip: When in doubt, hang up the phone and call a verified phone number.
Impostor Scams
Impostor scams often begin with a phone call, text message, or email. The scams may vary but work the same way — a scammer pretends to be someone you trust or represent themselves as an employee of a company that you might do business with. They often use technology to change the phone number that appears on your caller ID so the phone call may appear legitimate. No matter the story told, scammers attempt to gain your trust or use scare tactics before asking for your personal, account, or credit card information.
If you are faced with this situation:
- Stop all interactions.
- Keep all communications for proof.
- Never send money or purchase gift cards because someone contacted you.
- When you suspect fraud, only call the phone number on the back of your credit card.
For more information about College of Western Idaho’s organizational security, please contact Michael Wilson at michaelwilson1@cwi.edu.
For more information about cyber awareness or cybersecurity, you can either contact Michael Wilson, Sara Hoyt at sarahoyt@cwi.edu, cyberdefense@cwi.edu or visit the Cyber Defense Center.
To report a possible cybersecurity issue, please submit a Help Desk ticket.