TAMIU Urges Student Caution with National ‘Phishing’ Financial Aid Scam
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 5, 2018, Comments Off
Courtesy Steve Harmon,
Laredo, Texas – Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) is advising students and financial aid recipients to be extra cautious in light of a ‘phishing’ financial aid scam that is having nationwide impact. Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails seeming to be from reputable companies that encourage individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
“Multiple institutions of higher education (IHEs) have reported that attackers are using a phishing email to obtain access to student accounts via the IHE student portal, “ said Laura Elizondo, TAMIU director of Financial Aid, “this is a malicious phishing campaign that may lead to potential fraud associated with student refunds and aid distributions.”
Elizondo said that Federal Student Aid (FSA),an office of the US Department of Education, is monitoring the situation nationwide. If successful, the student’s federal student direct deposit is redirected to the attacker. With the semester just starting last week, this could be disastrous for affected students.
