{"679666":{"#nid":"679666","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Students Are Advised About Financial Theft Through Cyber Fraud","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bursar.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOffice of the Bursar\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.oit.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOffice of Information Technology\u003C\/a\u003E (OIT), and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/finaid.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOffice of Scholarships and Financial Aid\u003C\/a\u003E (OSFA) are warning students about cybertheft affecting student refund payments, including financial aid refunds.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAcross higher education, cybercriminals are using email phishing scams, malicious web links, and other techniques to gain access to student credentials, often resulting in unauthorized changes to their financial information stored on file with their college or university. This can lead to the theft of their financial aid refunds or other payments from their institution. Victims may not realize their accounts have been compromised until they receive unexpected bills or notice discrepancies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs part of our ongoing commitment to strengthen our defenses against cyberthreats, OIT implemented stronger two-factor authentication (2FA) methods available to students, faculty, and staff at the Institute last summer,\u201d said Jennifer Rhodes, Georgia Tech\u2019s interim chief information security officer. \u201cWe encourage students to use 2FA methods such as Duo Mobile, YubiKeys, and passkeys to keep their accounts safe and to implement the use of 2FA as soon as they begin their enrollment.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo-factor authentication resources for students can be found at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oit.gatech.edu\/two-factor-authentication\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eoit.gatech.edu\/two-factor-authentication\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is also important that students periodically review their banking information saved on the student portal \u2014 including the full account, routing, or debit card numbers \u2014 saved for direct deposit,\u201d said Georgia Tech Bursar Gloria Kobus. \u201cStudents should do so to ensure there have been no changes to the information that they did not approve.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProtect Your Accounts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe offices encourage students to also take the following steps to keep their accounts safe:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOnly check your Georgia Tech financial aid application status and awards through BuzzPort (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/buzzport.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebuzzport.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E), OSCAR (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oscar.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eoscar.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E), or by contacting OSFA (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/finaid.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efinaid.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col start=\u00222\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo check Institute balances, make payments, or sign up for electronic student aid refunds, visit the Office of the Bursar\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bursar.gatech.edu\/student-payment-instructions\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EStudent Payments Instructions\u003C\/a\u003E webpage. Regularly verify your personal information on file.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col start=\u00223\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDo not engage with suspicious emails by replying to the sender, opening attachments, or visiting links in the message. Report these emails by forwarding them as an attachment to OIT\u2019s Security Operations Center (SOC) at \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:phishing@gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ephishing@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E. Microsoft Outlook application users can also employ its \u201cReport\u201d feature.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col start=\u00224\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPay special attention to website URLs. Malicious actors may use part of a trusted site domain, such as gatech.edu, in their URLs. Do not click on links that you are unsure of. Instead, visit websites by typing the URLs directly into your browser.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col start=\u00225\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003EChoose\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/security.gatech.edu\/securing-your-password\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Estrong passwords\u003C\/a\u003E\u202fand keep them secure. Do not change your campus password through an emailed link; instead, only do so at Passport, at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/passport.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epassport.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u202f\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col start=\u00226\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDo not approve 2FA requests you did not initiate. If you receive repeated 2FA approval requests that were not initiated by you, report this activity to the SOC at \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:soc@gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esoc@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E. If you ever believe your Georgia Tech accounts have been compromised, contact the SOC immediately.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want our students to understand the importance of protecting their online accounts from the moment they begin their first semester,\u201d said Rhodes. \u201cThough cyberthreats will likely always be around, personal awareness and vigilance are top defenses against them.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Office of the Bursar, Office of Information Technology, and Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid partner to warn students about financial fraud against their Institute accounts \u2014 including financial aid refund theft \u2014 and how to protect them from cyber compromise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Office of the Bursar, Office of Information Technology, and Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid partner to warn students about financial fraud against their Institute accounts and how to protect them."}],"uid":"34932","created_gmt":"2025-01-16 17:06:22","changed_gmt":"2025-01-16 17:23:42","author":"Courtney Hill","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-01-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-01-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675768":{"id":"675768","type":"image","title":"A Georgia Tech student reads outdoors ","body":null,"created":"1733322052","gmt_created":"2024-12-04 14:20:52","changed":"1733322082","gmt_changed":"2024-12-04 14:21:22","alt":"A Georgia Tech student reads outdoors ","file":{"fid":"259433","name":"24-R10400-P27-009-web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/04\/24-R10400-P27-009-web.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/04\/24-R10400-P27-009-web.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":858454,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/12\/04\/24-R10400-P27-009-web.jpg?itok=rmV_g4em"}}},"media_ids":["675768"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/oit.gatech.edu\/two-factor-authentication","title":"Two-Factor Authentication at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.oit.gatech.edu\/cybersecurityawareness","title":"Cybersecurity Awareness at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"174291","name":"OIT"}],"categories":[{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1411","name":"financial aid"},{"id":"194225","name":"cyber fraud"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["courtney.hill@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}