Scammers are using the COVID-19 pandemic to target teleworking employees with phishing termination emails and VTC (virtual teleconference) invitations. These messages cite COVID-19 as the reason for termination, and attempt to trick victims into clicking on embedded malicious links that purportedly provide more information on online conferences related to their termination or information on their severance.
Please be on the lookout for:
- Email sent from a domain other than nyu.edu, which purports to come from an NYU community member or department, such as Human Resources or your Manager. Some examples of spoofed domains include, nyu@gmail.com, nyuedu.com, nyu.com.
- Email sent from a non-existent NYU email address (e.g., HR@nyu.edu)
Please be reminded:
- When in doubt of the legitimacy of a message received, confirm via a trusted phone number, such as an NYU Directory phone number.
- Do not click on embedded links or attachments in messages that you were not expecting to receive. Clicking a malicious link or attachment could trigger the installation of malware, or redirect you to a spoofed login prompt or website designed to steal your login credentials and other sensitive information.
- Never provide sensitive information over email or to callers.