Financial Aid and Refund Phishing Scams Targeting Students

Financial Aid and Refund Phishing Scams

Students across higher education are being targeted by phishing scams that impersonate financial aid offices and refund services. These messages are designed to trick recipients into sharing personal or account information, including usernames, passwords, student IDs, and phone numbers.

Common Scam Tactics

• Emails often reference financial aid disbursements or refunds.

• Messages may include attachments or links to forms that appear official.

• These forms collect personal or login information.

• Scammers may follow up by phone or text while posing as a bank or university office.

• You may also receive unexpected multifactor authentication (MFA) prompts. Do not approve MFA requests unless you are actively signing in, and never share MFA codes.

What You Should Do

Salisbury University Information Technology recommends that you:

• Report suspicious emails using the Phish Alert Button in Outlook.

• Review guidance on Email Security to help identifying phishing and spam messages.

• If you have clicked a link or provided information reset your password and reach out to the Help Desk for assistance.

Key Points to Remember

Legitimate financial aid or refund communications:

• Are not sent from personal email accounts (such as Gmail).

• Do not require forms to be completed in order to receive funds.

• Will NEVER ask for your login information or for you to approve a login with MFA.

Questions or Concerns

• Refund questions: cashiers@salisbury.edu

• Financial aid questions: finaid@salisbury.edu

• Account safety questions: https://support.salisbury.edu