To open or not to open? The senders of phishing emails often pose as well-known service providers or colleagues.

Staying safe online
Fraudulent emails claiming to offer jobs

A job at Ruhr University Bochum? Naturally, that sounds appealing to many people. But if you receive such an offer by email, it’s important to proceed with caution.

Anyone who has received an email with an enticing job offer supposedly from Ruhr University Bochum should take a closer look. Scammers are using a type of deception known as typosquatting.

What is typosquatting?

Typosquatting is a scam in which criminals use email addresses or links that imitate legitimate senders. Small spelling mistakes or minimal deviations often go unnoticed and are designed to trick recipients into responding to fake job offers or revealing personal information.

These senders use the email domain “@ruhr-universitat-bochum.de,” which does not belong to Ruhr University Bochum. Have you received a suspicious email? Please forward it as an attachment to the IT Security Office for review!

Example of a phishing email.

Links

First Aid for Security Incidents (in German)
Practical Tips for Greater Online Security (in German)