Did you know that October is Australia’s Cyber Security Awareness month?
It serves as a great reminder to check on our personal cyber hygiene, especially considering that the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) received approximately 94,000 cyber incident reports in the last financial year. At La Trobe University our Cyber Security Team fights off threats to our students and staff daily.
Scam Alert: scam targeting La Trobe students
Please be aware that there has been an email-based scam targeting students and staff at La Trobe University.
The email appears to come from someone at La Trobe who claims to be donating a car (see example below). The scammers attempt to coax people to email them on a non-La Trobe address to communicate further. Once engaged, they request you pay $600 to receive the car. Unfortunately, once the money is paid, the scammers cease all contact.
Tempting you with an offer that seems “too good to be true” is a common scam tactic. If you have received this email, please do not contact the scammers or reply to the email. It is best to delete the email and be alert for similar scams.
What can you do to stay safe online?
Keeping a close eye on your everyday cyber hygiene is a great start. The Victorian Government has developed a tool that you can use to assess your personal cyber maturity level. It can help you check password strength and identify common threats. You can access Victorian Government Stay Safe Online for great tips on improving safety for you and your family. It is also a good idea to keep the following in mind:
- Educate yourself on the dangers of email phishing
- Use strong and non-repeated passwords
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) everywhere
- Keep all your devices and software updated
- Be cautious using unsecured public WiFi
- Always have antivirus enabled/installed on your personal devices
As always, if you have any cyber security concerns at La Trobe, please contact
is-security@latrobe.edu.au.
For more information about scams, including tips to identify scams, stay safe and what to do if you think you’ve been scammed, check out our article: Stay safe – be on the lookout for scams.