More than 4,300 students and faculty members who got fake phishing emails from school administrators forked over their private login information, tempted by free Starbucks or an “opportunity to respond to disciplinary actions,” officials said.
The emails, which were sent on the afternoon of Oct. 9, were part of an effort by university officials to teach New Schoolers how easy it is to be fooled by these types of scams.
Students received an email appearing to be from a Starbucks, noting a partnership with the school that entitled them to a free drink of their choice, if they logged in with their New School username and password.
Faculty members received a similar email notifying them of disciplinary actions and offering an opportunity to respond.
Both emails included a link to a faux New School login page, which after recipients entered their username and password, displayed a page telling the user that they have been a victim of the scam.
Some who were duped took it with good humor.
“I just thought it was funny, cause I was fooled so easily,” said Sarah King, an undecided sophomore at Lang.
Of the 3,296 students who received the bogus email, 2,700 shared their usernames and passwords, essentially exposing to would-be hackers a treasure trove of academic, financial, and personal information.
Of the nearly 4,000 full and part time faculty members who got the email, more than 1,600 handed over their logins, officials said.
School officials wanted to raise awareness about and prepare staff for phishing scams, they said in university-wide emails sent on Oct. 12.
In June, The New School was targeted in a phishing campaign that resulted in the theft of paychecks from employees who entered their login information on fraudulent correspondence.
Not everyone fell for the scam, however.
“I didn’t fall for it because why would I have to give my personal info for a Starbucks drink?” said Jade Gomez, a sophomore journalism + design student at Lang.
“The phishing email was honestly pretty stupid in my opinion,” she added.
Photo by Orlando Mendiola
