The purpose of this article is to warn you about a current threat (2021) targeting community college students and provide you and your family with timely and valuable tips on how to avoid falling victim to cybercrime.

Blue Ridge Community College is committed to doing everything we can to ensure the safety and security of our students on campus and online. We hope you will take the time to review the information below and use this information to empower yourself, your friends, and your family with the knowledge and tools to avoid falling victim to a costly scam.

When we hear news of online threats such as ransomware attacks affecting critical industries such as the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack or online scams targeting vulnerable populations such as our senior citizens, we might mistakenly think that we are not targets of these kinds of crime. We might feel confident in our own abilities to spot and avoid such scams. Or we might think that we aren’t important enough or wealthy enough to be targeted. Those assumptions are incorrect. Every person reading this message is a potential target of cybercriminals.

Starting in October 2021, several of your fellow students at our sister North Carolina Community Community Colleges fell victim to identity theft after applying to fake online job postings. Most identity theft victims spend hundreds of dollars, and dozens of hours trying to rectify actions that were fraudulently done in their name. In fact, some victims find they are unable to attain a desired job because of fraudulent activity that is associated with their identity. 

Please take a few moments to review the information provided in the links from the FBI and U.S. Federal Trade Commission below regarding current identity theft scams that are targeting college students like yourself right now.

We also strongly encourage you to review this short, informative, and free CyberSecurity Awareness course. This course is only available through the end of October so please set aside some time soon to take a look.

Other Online Resources: