During the holiday season, scammers are particularly active, trying to exploit the festive giving to steal money, data and commit identity theft. Protect yourself and the George Washington University community by learning how to skip the scams.
Skip the Online Shopping Scams
The busy holiday season makes it easy to overlook the source of messages, which scammers count on. Take extra time to verify messages, review new shops you find on social media, and avoid reusing passwords.
Scammers are relying on your lack of patience while waiting for that perfect present delivery to arrive, so they can steal your identity with a fake package delivery message. This is called smishing—a funny name that will not leave you laughing. There has also been a rise in Docusign phishing scams trying to impersonate HR departments as another way to get access to your personal information.
Scammers are getting more sophisticated and more direct, so be on your guard as you make your way to your holiday destinations.
- Keep your distance while using devices in public. Scammers may be trying to shoulder surf to steal personal information, passwords or credit card numbers.
- Keep in mind, not all public Wi-Fi connections are secure. Scammers set up fake Wi-Fi networks hoping you will share valuable information. Make sure to only connect to known Wi-Fi connections, use GW’s VPN service, or use a personal hotspot.
- Keep your device secure while charging. Scammers are using juice jacking by providing public charging ports to put spying software on your device. Get a USB data blocker if you are going to use charging stations while traveling.
A reminder that GWireless will be retired Jan. 2, 2025. Join eduroam, GW’s primary Wi-Fi network today.