Cybercriminals try to trick us in many ways. Increasingly common are digital impersonation scams. Paige Campbell, a Yale Information Security Office intern, shares her own story showing how digital impersonation can impact anyone!
My name is Paige Campbell, I am a junior at Northeastern University and an intern with Yale’s Information Security Office. In May of 2020, someone impersonated me.
In high school, I was involved with the Technology Student Association. TSA is a national organization, where middle and high school students compete in technology-related challenges. I was the president of the Connecticut chapter, and myself and my fellow state officers oversaw the chapters located at schools across the state. If anybody had a question for us, each of our email addresses were available to them on the organization’s website.
With this key information, someone made an email address using my first and last name. They emailed each of the state officers, asking if any of them had a minute to talk. I first found out when one of the other officers texted me, asking if I had sent them an email. I had not—but perfecthome260 had.
I quickly texted the other officers, telling them that if they got an email from this address, it was not me. I hoped that each of the officers had gotten them in close enough proximity that they all would see my messages. Unfortunately, the scammer got to one of the others before I could. “Paige” asked them for $200 e-Bay gift cards, and they wound up sending 3 of them over, and losing $600.
While you can’t prevent impersonation, you can help to make sure that others don’t fall victim to the same kind of scam. Know the contact information of leaders within your organization. Check with a trusted source if someone contacts you from a new email address. Report any strange emails you get by clicking “Report Message” in the Outlook email banner. With these tips, we can help to prevent situations like this from hurting anyone else.