This fake email is allegedly from a campus member and offers to generously give away musical instruments or sometimes welding tools if only the recipient will pay for shipping.
They will recommend a moving company who will ask you to send money via Zelle, PayPal, or another digital wallet app, wire money, or pay with prepaid debit cards.
What makes this a phishing message?
This targeted phishing scam pretending to be a UC Berkeley colleague and offers a deal too good to be true. The scam uses a the promise very good deal or significant gain to solicit responses.
Tips if Something Seems Off:
If the deal sounds too good to be real, it is not real.
The alleged seller will pressure to act quickly using phrases like “many people are interested” or “you need to reserve it now” create a sense of urgency.
A check of the campus directory has no listing for this individual as a staff member. Also, the email used is not a UC Berkeley email, or is a comprised UC Berkeley email account.
Follow up with the sender separately
If you didn’t expect it, reject it. Or follow up with the individual directly in a separate email or call/text to confirm.
Report and/or flag it
- Open the message
- To the right of the 'Reply' arrow select 'More' (typically denoted with three vertical dots)
- Then 'Report phishing'
For suspicious messages received by text, please take a screen shot and forward the message to phishing@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail)(link sends e-mail) For more information visit https://security.berkeley.edu/resources/phishing
Original Message:
