UMBC’s Kimberly Moffitt, professor of Language, Literacy & Culture and affiliate professor of Africana Studies, has been appointed Interim Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), effective August 17.

“UMBC has been my academic home for the last fourteen years, and I consider it an honor to be able to serve in this capacity at this particular time when my skill set can be best utilized to support the work ahead,” says Moffitt. “It will require grace and patience to successfully navigate the upcoming year, but I know the commitment of this community to our students, to our work, and to ourselves and as a result, CAHSS will thrive.”

Moffitt earned a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, an M.A. in mass communication from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in mass communication/media studies from Howard University. She became the first Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Fellow from Howard University and completed a teaching postdoctoral fellowship at Hope College in Holland, Michigan before holding a faculty position at DePaul University. She joined UMBC in 2006 as an assistant professor of American Studies, and, prior to her appointment as Interim Dean, served as director of the Language, Literacy & Culture doctoral program.

“Dr. Moffitt brings to her new position an outstanding record of scholarship and leadership in shared governance,” says Provost Philip Rous, “including serving as president and vice president of UMBC’s Faculty Senate, a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, UMBC’s NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative, and as a member of several other university committees.”

As a media scholar and critic, Moffitt’s work centers on topics that encompass ideas of citizenship, identity, representations, and belonging in society. Specifically, she explores the mediated representations of the Black body and its extremities (e.g., hair), often in programming such as Disney and other media forms. Her research seeks to understand how these representations influence communication among different cultures, affect policies within institutional structures, and impact the self-esteem and self-worth of those occupying Black bodies. She has an extensive publication record, including five co-edited volumes and numerous scholarly articles and book chapters.

In addition to her service at UMBC, Moffitt also extends her expertise into the greater Baltimore community by facilitating workshops on diversity and inclusion, as well as appearing as a featured guest on several media outlets, both locally and nationally. Moffitt is the founding parent of Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys charter school and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She remains actively involved in her disciplinary association, National Communication Association, and is also a board member of the National Association of Media Literacy Education.

Moffitt will build on the remarkable legacy of Dean Scott Casper, who will step down as dean on August 17 to become Dean Emeritus and President of the American Antiquarian Society.

Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

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[Alt Text Image] Day 10 countdown graphic of CASHCoach program badge on a yellow background

In the article linked below, BBC News warns of different Covid-19 themed frauds and scams. Many malicious actors follow the headlines just like the rest of us, and when they see a crisis like Covid-19, they take the opportunity to jump on the fear and try to scam as many people as they can. 

The article warns of these scams to be wary of:

• Covid-19 Financial Support Scams

• Fake government emails, which look to be from a government department and offer financial grants. The emails contain a link which can steal both personal and financial information.

• Scam emails offering access to a “Covid-19 relief fund”, and encouraging users to fill in a form and hand over personal information.

• Official-looking emails offering “tax reductions.” The email is reported to contain a link that takes users to a fake government website which can harvest users personal and financial information.

• E-mails offering to help Benefit recipients in applying for universal credit, but which fraudsters will grab some of the payment as an advance for their "services".

• Email about claiming fake school meal funds and fake government grants.
  
  

• Health Related Scams

• Phishing emails claiming that the user has been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid-19. The links lead to fake websites that are used to steal personal and financial information or even infect the device with malware.
  For official information on contact tracing efforts in Maryland please visit https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/contact-tracing.

• Fake ads for non-existent Covid-19 related products, such as hand sanitizer and face masks. They simply will take the users’ money and send them nothing.

• Offers of fake Covid-19 test kits and hand sanitizer, or even products claiming to treat or prevent Covid-19.
  
  

• Social Distancing Related Scams

• Fake emails and texts claiming to be from “TV Licensing”, telling people they are eligible for six months of free TV because of Covid-19. Users are then told there has been a problem with their card and are asked to click on a link that takes them to a fake website designed to steal users persona and financial information.

• Emails asking people to update their TV subscription services payment details by clicking on a link which is designed to steal credit card information.

• Fake profiles on social media sites designed to try and manipulate users into giving them their money. 

• Fake investment advertisements on social media sites encouraging users to “take advantage of the financial downturn.” Bitcoin platforms are using emails and adverts on social media platforms to encourage users to put money into fake companies using fake websites.

• Malicious actors cold-calling home residents offering to do shopping errands.

• Messages telling the user that they have been fined for leaving their home more than once a day. Links in these messages are designed to steal a victim’s personal and financial information or to install malicious software onto the user’s device.
  
  

• What We See at UMBC

• At UMBC, DoIT is getting reports of work-from-home phishing emails. These phishing emails follow a similar pattern of offering a work-from-home opportunity and ask for personal information like personal email and home address. They will then send a fraudulent check to the user which should not be cashed. 

• Recently DoIT has also seen phishing emails attempting to impersonate UMBC staff and asking for gift cards or phone numbers.

For more information on these and other phishing attempts at UMBC please visit the DoIT Security page which can be found here https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/.

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 visit: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53573408

To read more articles published by DoIT Security please visit: 

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

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

Recently DoIT has been notified of a phishing email scam where the malicious actor is impersonating a UMBC staff member. The name has been removed from the From for privacy reasons, but an example of the email can be seen below:

The phishing email above not only is impersonating a UMBC staff member, but the email has many grammatical mistakes, and there is a feeling of urgency with the subject line “Urgent” and words like “ASAP” being used. These are just some of the examples of the red flags for identifying this and other phishing email scams.

The main goal of this phishing email scam is to get the users to purchase the gift cards and give the gift codes to the malicious actors. Other scams similar to this one might ask for products like iTunes cards, gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or even bitcoin.

If you do receive this or a similar 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

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

For more information on a similar scam to the one above:
https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?id=94550