Good afternoon, all.

Today I want to let you know about a non-threat you may encounter if you are donating to Big Orange Give. I also want to let you know about a twist on a recurring threat that we have all seen about retirement consultations.

Current Non-Threat

• Verification of Email (email)
  • I have been asked about this by a few people this week and wanted to pass some along some information.
  • If you have donated to Big Orange Give online, you may have received an email or even a text from Link asking you to verify your email to confirm that it’s you.
  • This is actually legitimate.
  • Here is what I learned:
  • “Link is a digital wallet option that GiveCampus uses to process gifts, like Venmo or PayPal. In other words, using Link is another option, but not at all a requirement, for making an online gift.”
  • Thank you so much, Darren Hughes, with UTIA’s Institutional Advancement, for clearing this up!

Current Threats

• Pension Planning (phishing email)
  • These emails are very much like the retirement benefits emails we see all too often, but this time uses “pensions” instead.
  • These emails are being sent from “pension consultants”.
  • The sender at this time appears to be from [name]@mypensioneducation.com.
  • The subject is UT Annual Pension Review.
  • The subject and content will imply the consulting company is associated with UT.
  • The message goes so far as to specifically reference our well-known retirement programs.
  • The content may contain your job title, department, or other information that would make you think UT is involved, but it is not.
  • This information can be easily obtained from various locations such as the departmental website.
  • A little digging revealed that the “company” is not a legitimate government organization and has been flagged for using misleading marketing emails.
  • They are NOT affiliated in any way with UT’s Office of Payroll, Benefits and Retirement.
  • The motive behind these free “consultations” is to ask you to provide your personal information, including birthdate and Social Security number, which can be used to steal your identity.
  • If someone reaches out to you out of nowhere about personal matters like this, it is probably best to completely ignore them.
  • You can also let me know any time you have concerns about emails like these.
  • Please use the red Report button on the Outlook ribbon to report as phishing.

I thank you all the work you do and for being cautious when it comes to potential scams. I really appreciate you protecting the Institute’s data!

Sandy