Phishing Campaign Targets Students Seeking Financial Assistance

As part of our multipronged approach to combating phishing and other online scams, FDU OIRT regularly receives updates from the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC). The NJCCIC is the cybersecurity division of New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.

The NJCCIC has alerted us to an ongoing phishing attempt specifically targeting educational institutions. This scam email includes a Microsoft Word attachment claiming to provide details about a supposed “US Student Service Supplementary Grant” designed to assist students with educational and well-being expenses. The email instructs recipients to click on a link to a Google form to obtain these funds. The form requests sensitive personal and financial information, including school and FAFSA account details, online banking information, date of birth, and Social Security number. If submitted, this information is stolen by the threat actors running the phishing campaign. While Google has since disabled this specific form, similar malicious webpages are likely to appear.

If you receive an email of this nature, know that it is not a legitimate grant opportunity. Refrain from submitting any information. If you have already shared your information, change your password immediately, file a report with identitytheft.gov, and freeze your credit to mitigate potential identity theft attempts.

See also