QRÌýScams are yet another type of scam being used to trick people into giving away personal, financial, or other private information.

Below is an actualÌýQRÌýcode scam email seen recently at ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ. Can you spot the five clues that indicate this is a scam? Scroll down for answers.

QR code and Text Scam examples - 5
  1. Unknown Sender.ÌýIt is from a ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ person you do not know, or are not expecting to hear from.​​​​​​Ìý
    • In this case, the phishing email is the result of a hacker gaining access to a Boston College email account, and using that account to send emails to Boston College email addresses found across the web.Ìý
  2. Sense of Urgency.ÌýIt has an urgent subject, and is prompting you to act quickly.
  3. Poor grammar and missing punctuation.
  4. ÌýITS does not send out QR codes to the community.
  5. Asking for Passwords. The QR codeÌý takes you to a web form with a non-¾«¶«Ó°Òµ web address, that asks for your ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ Portal password.Ìý¾«¶«Ó°Òµ will NEVER ask for a password unless it is on anÌýofficialÌý¾«¶«Ó°Òµ login screen.Ìý
    • IMPORTANT: Official login screens always haveÌýbc.eduÌýbefore the first single, forward slash (/), for example:Ìý

If you receive an email you think may be a scam, please forward it toÌýsecurity@bc.edu.

More Resources

  • (Federal Trade Commission Consumer Alert)