Expect to see and/or hear about fake vaccine scams in the coming weeks.  The scams will differ in intent.  Some will encourage you to use your credit card or bank account to send the scammers money in order to assure vaccination quickly.  Others may simply ask you to fill out an online form with lots of personal information.  Some may even offer you a work-from-home job calling people about vaccination.  Whatever the scam is, the COVID-19 vaccine will be the bait.

From the FBI

Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault recently told ABC News:

"What we would say to the public is to be leery of and be on guard for scams related to telemarketing, malicious websites or emails where people are taking advantage of the initial supply-and-demand problem"

From the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

The DHHS Office of Inspector General issued an alert earlier this month warning:

• Be vigilant and protect yourself from potential fraud concerning COVID-19 vaccines. You will not be asked for money to enhance your ranking for vaccine eligibility. Government and State officials will not call you to obtain personal information in order to receive the vaccine, and you will not be solicited door to door to receive the vaccine.

• Beneficiaries should be cautious of unsolicited requests for their personal, medical, and financial information. Medicare will not call beneficiaries to offer COVID-19 related products, services, or benefit review.

• Do not respond to, or open hyperlinks in, text messages about COVID-19 from unknown individuals.

• Be aware of scammers pretending to be COVID-19 contact tracers. Legitimate contact tracers will never ask for your Medicare number, financial information, or attempt to set up a COVID-19 test for you and collect payment information for the test.

• If you suspect COVID-19 health care fraud,report it immediately online or call 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

Spotting Scams

There are two important components to any scam.  First, the scammer must offer to provide you with something you very much want, or to prevent something you very much don’t want.  Second, the scammer will create a sense of urgency to discourage you from doing any background check or even from thinking too hard about the offer.

If you receive email, phone calls, text messages, or anything else that appeals to your hopes and fears and tries to create a sense of urgency, be suspicious.  The more urgent it seems, the more you need to check out the source.

For more information about spotting potential COVID-19 scams, please visit:

• https://scamspotter.org

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/14/covid-19-vaccine-scams

• https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/itsecurity/posts/98136

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not even click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. If you are a member of the UMBC community, please forward the message (with the email headers - see here for instructions)) to security@umbc.edu. 

References and Links to More Information

• https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-warns-covid-19-vaccine-scams/story?id=74631650

• https://oig.hhs.gov/coronavirus/fraud-alert-covid19.asp

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/14/covid-19-vaccine-scams/

• https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/coronavirus-vaccine-scams.html

• https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/beware-fraudulent-coronavirus-tests-vaccines-and-treatments

The article linked below lists a few tips on how to identify phishing scams in your daily life or while you are working. Here is a short list of some clues to help identify phishing emails.

• The email address does not match business name or location. With many phishing emails if you look closely at the FROM address, you might notice misspelling  or even something that doesn’t match the organization at all. One type that has been seen at UMBC are scammers having an email that ends with <.umbc@gmail.com> to try and trick users into thinking it is from a UMBC source.

• A sense of urgency. Many phishing emails will have a sense of urgency that are created to distract the user from the emails true intentions. The idea is that the victim is too preoccupied with getting the action completed to see that it is a false request.

• Uncommon request from someone within the organization. Is this email coming from someone you do not normally work with? Would they normally be asking you to help complete this task or project? 

• Poor grammar and spelling. Many times the true sign of a suspicious email are common words being misspelled. There could also be capitalizations in almost random spots of a sentence and the spacing between words might be off.

Phishing scams are not the only tactics that are used by malicious actors. Many are impersonating or creating fake charities and using social media to further expand their campaign. Twitter has been seeing many of the “send me $1 and I will send you $2” scams as well as an increase in scams promoting bitcoins.

With charities, malicious actors are creating seemingly wholesome and thorough charity websites or social media profiles to target those who want to help. These scams often come as telemarketers or prompted phone calls. If you would like to give to an organization please do your research before giving any personal or financial information.

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu. 

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970 

For more information, please check out: 

https://securityboulevard.com/2020/08/identifying-covid-19-phishing-scams/

To read more articles published by DOIT visit: 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?tag=notice.  

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/home/covid-19-news/?tag=covid19 

In the spring of 2019, DoIT's AV Services department engineered and installed a software-based video conferencing system in Engineering 025 as a pilot project. Based on the success of this project, the Provost's Office has funded the creation of four more systems to support HyFlex learning, typically defined as letting students choose between online or face-to-face (F2F) delivery, and in "real time" (or synchronously). These systems will improve the total student experience for those in-person and off-site, enjoying vastly better audio and video quality and fostering student engagement.

In our current COVID-19 environment, HyFlex classrooms and pedagogy present a real opportunity to facilitate learning with groups of students who may not be able to gather in person. 

As Dr. Zupan and Professor Cook mentioned in the above video, HyFlex teaching is the way of the future. The AV Services department will be upgrading the classroom technology in four campus locations - AD101 (LH3), SOND105, ITE227, and ITE233 - to better accommodate hybrid learning in the spring 2021 semester. HyFlex technology in classrooms includes multiple video cameras to capture the instructor and the class, microphones in the ceiling to capture student audio, and control equipment to provide a more seamless experience for users in the classroom. Any software-based video conferencing client such as Webex and Blackboard Collaborate can be utilized in these new classrooms. 

Although there is a learning curve with the technology, DoIT staff will be available to assist with using the technology and adjusting to teaching in a new method. These instructional spaces will be enhanced, but the operation will be familiar to those who have used them in the past. 

We look forward to working collaboratively with faculty as they adapt their courses to work in a HyFlex environment and adjust to the new technology. 

 -  The AV Services Team, x52461

If an instructor would like to use one of the four rooms that are being upgraded, they should proceed as follows:

For approved HyFlex/in-person classes where instructor and some or all students will be in the classroom:

Instructors should work with their departmental scheduling coordinator, who will submit a request to the Registrar's Office through RT. The Registrar's Office will work with the scheduling coordinator to reserve the space and update the Schedule of Classes.

For online courses where the instructor would like to use the space to broadcast to remote students:

The instructor or the departmental scheduling coordinator should submit a request including the course information (ex ENGL 100, section 2). If one of the spaces is available during the class time, the Registrar's Office will reserve the room. There will be no changes in the Schedule of Classes as students should not be attending in person. Please note that the instructor will also need to complete the Return to On-Campus Work Approval Process if not already approved to be on campus during the semester.

Administration 101 (LH3) - Traditional lecture hall seating, capacity 32

Sondheim 105 - Active learning space with flexible seating, capacity 17

Information Technology & Engineering 227 - tiered traditional classroom with ample student table surface, capacity 17

Information Technology & Engineering 233 - tiered seminar style classroom with ample student table surface, capacity 17

By Ally Hepp