Pitt Information Technology is aware of a new scam advertising a fraudulent job conducting Bitcoin ATM surveys. The scam, which may appear to originate from a Pitt email address, asks recipients to apply with an alternative email address that is different from their school address.

Below is a sample of the scam. Pitt IT is contacting individuals who received the scam and advising them to block the scammer’s email address and be vigilant about reviewing any messages received at the email address they may have provided to the scammer.

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VOLUNTEER SURVEY POSITION

BITCOIN SURVEY:

COINBASE (A secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum)  seeks INDIVIDUALS who can VISIT at least “one” BITCOIN ATM every week for a survey.

$350 paid upon every task performed, with a maximum of 3 tasks per week. No specific time required as long as work is completed in a timely manner.

More Information:

To apply for this position, kindly contact Thomas Scott at [email address redacted], the HR representative and make sure you apply with your alternative email address, NOT your Work/School email to fasten your application processing.

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The University Career Center provides detailed guidance for Identifying and Avoiding Fraudulent Jobs and Scams on its website. Additional guidance for spotting phishing scams is available on Pitt IT’s website. Keep in mind these key points:

• Only approve multifactor authentication (Duo) requests that you have initiated. Duo is designed to prevent unauthorized access to your information and University data, but it requires constant vigilance. Never tap “Approve” if you receive a Duo authentication request that you were not expecting. Uninitiated authentication requests may be an attacker attempting to compromise your Pitt account. The only safe Duo authentication request you will receive is one you request when logging in to University services.
• Do not reply to unsolicited emails or emails from unverifiable sources. If you were not expecting to receive such an email, confirm with the sender prior to interacting with the message. If you must interact with the message, avoid clicking on links contained in such emails. These may lead to sites that contain malicious software, or sites that attempt to steal your credentials. If a link looks suspicious, you can hover over the link with your mouse to preview the URL without clicking on it.
• Be extra cautious if you automatically forward your University email. Automatically forwarding your University email to a non-University address (for example, gmail.com, hotmail.com, or upmc.edu) circumvents some of the security measures Pitt IT puts in place to protect you against phishing scams.
• Stay safe when scanning QR codes. Never scan a QR code from an unknown or untrustworthy source. When you do scan a QR code, be sure to use a scanner app that provides a preview of the destination so that you can review the URL and decide if it is safe. If you scan a QR code and the site is unrelated to what you scanned or requires a login, close out of your browser immediately.
• Install an antivirus solution for personal devices. Staff and faculty should be using Microsoft Defender to protect University-owned devices.

Please contact the Technology Help Desk at +1-412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.