{"id":25544,"date":"2021-08-25T15:02:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T19:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/?p=25544"},"modified":"2021-08-25T15:54:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T19:54:18","slug":"msu-it-security-alert-suspicious-venmo-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/msu-it-security-alert-suspicious-venmo-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"MSU IT Security Alert: Suspicious Venmo Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What is happening?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">MSU IT has detected suspicious activity involving the creation of new Venmo a<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ccounts registered with some MSU email addresses<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In this case, an unknown cybercriminal group is creating fraudulent Venmo accounts using MSU email addresses<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If your MSU email address was used, you may receive an email from Venmo to verify the new account<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What do I need to do?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If your MSU email account does receive an unsolicited Venmo email informing you of the creation of a new Venmo account:<\/span><\/b>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DO:<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Contact the MSU IT Service Desk as soon as possible at 517-432-6200<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Contact Venmo support to report the fraudulent account and reference case #33959785 at support@venmo.com<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DO NOT:<\/span><\/b>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Click the activation button\/link in the email<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Attempt to login to the account or add your financial institution to <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the account<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As always:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Know that MSU IT will NEVER ask for your password via phone or email<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Be wary of unsolicited phone calls and emails<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Knowledge is your best defense against online threats<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What are we doing about this issue?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"3\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The MSU IT Information Security team is monitoring potential threats and risks to the university as the situation evolves<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"3\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">MSU IT is contacting potentially targeted individuals via email to create awareness<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Was my MSU email address compromised?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">At this time, there is no reason to suspect that any NetIDs or MSU email addresses have been compromised<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The purpose of these fraudulent Venmo accounts is unknown, but cybercriminals often leverage these accounts to hide stolen money or recruit \u201cmoney mules\u201d using them<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Accounts are not connected to your financial institution unless you access the account and manually add it<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It is likely that targeted email addresses are found on open, public-facing websites (e.g., online staff bios or directories)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u00b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"5\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As always, if you have questions or concerns, please call the IT Service Desk (517-432-6200) to report a security incident<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is happening? MSU IT has detected suspicious activity involving the creation of new Venmo accounts registered with some MSU email addresses\u00a0 In this case, an unknown cybercriminal group is creating fraudulent Venmo accounts using MSU email addresses If your MSU email address was used, you may receive an email from Venmo to verify the… <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/msu-it-security-alert-suspicious-venmo-activity\/\" title=\"Read MSU IT Security Alert: Suspicious Venmo Activity\">Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":16183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/alert.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6GvV1-6E0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25544"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25561,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544\/revisions\/25561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.msu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}