Good afternoon, everyone!

Today I need to tell you about a couple of threats and how to avoid becoming a victim.

Current Threats

• Visa Scams (Phishing)
  • Lately there has been an increase in fraudulent emails targeting visa holders.
  • These emails come from someone posing as a US Government official from the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security. or similar entity.
  • These emails may be sent soliciting payments, asking for your personal information, or threatening deportation.
  • There are warning signs that an email like this is fraudulent.
  • The sender is using a domain that does not end in “.gov” despite using official-looking logos. (Even if a “.gov” address is used, it is essential that you hover over it to display the actual address used.)
  • There is a request for payment of some kind to fix a status issue that is not real.
  • The email creates a sense of urgency or fear.
  • There are errors with spelling, punctuation, phrasing, or just bad grammar.
  • The email sender may be using a part of a correct department or entity name, but make sure the entire name used is correct.
  • If you receive an email that you are not 100% certain is real, please do NOT respond or click on links/attachments.
  • You can forward the email(s) to me, and I will be happy to research the department names, domain, phone number, etc.
  • In addition, you can contact UT’s International Student and Scholar Services at (865) 974-3177 or international@utk.edu, or visit their website at https://international.utk.edu.

• Traffic Violations (smishing)
  • A friend mentioned this one to me today and I thought it would be helpful to let everyone know.
  • Scammers are once again targeting drivers with fake text messages (SMS phishing) about unpaid traffic citations.
  • This one appears to be sent from the “Tennessee Motor Vehicles Commission – Driver Compliance Division”.
  • This division does not exist, and the first part of the department has a mistake, as well.
  • The phone number begins with “+63” which is the country code for the Philippines and the area code is incorrect.
  • The link given for the payment portal does not exist, but the sender is hoping you will click on it instead of typing it in like you are so good about doing!
  • Please remember that State DMVs will not send text messages for traffic citations or toll violations.
  • If you receive one of the smishing attempts, please report the text message to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov.
  • If you have been in the state from which a text appears to have been sent and you are concerned, please manually look up the official DMV website or phone number to contact them.

Thank you so much for all you do to help protect the Institute’s data. If you have questions about a specific email that may or may not be a threat or if you have a general question you would like for me to answer, please don’t hesitate to ask me. I operate in a judgment-free zone, and no question is a bad question!

Sandy

Important Note: Thank you so much for sharing these e-newsletters with family, friends, clients, students, and anyone else who may benefit from the information. I would like to stress that you should keep your students in mind, as non-employee students will not get this information without someone sharing. If anyone has an email group for students who are not employees of your department, please let me know what that address is, and I can include it. I do this as a blind copy so student names and addresses will not show up!