This purported job offer uses the name of a real faculty member from the Department of Sociology, but this job offer did not come from that person or department and is a scam. There are several signs that this is not a legitimate opportunity:
- The sender’s name does not match the name of the faculty member in the signature. This can be a sign of an impersonation scam.
- The sender is not using UVic email. Instead, they are using a Gmail address and asking you to reply to it. Always be wary of unsolicited job offers that come from an address from a free email provider or that ask you to contact that sort of email address.
- The pay being offered for 8 hours of work per week is too good to be true–that’s much higher than the minimum wage in BC!
- The scammer is asking you to send alternative contact information to move the conversation away from UVic email to evade detection.
- There are capitalization errors in the signature block.
If you replied to the scammer, especially if you provided money or sensitive personal information, reach out to the Computer Help Desk for assistance and advice on how to report the fraud.
