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Are You Available?

The "Are You Available?" scam falls in the category of phishing techniques that do not rely on tricking you into clicking on a link. Instead, the scammer wants you to reply with some kind of valuable information.

How it Works

You receive an email that appears to have come from your supervisor, or an executive. They are asking you a seemingly innocuous question such as:

1. "Are you available right now?"
2. “Send me your available cell number.”
3. "Can you run a quick errand for me?"
4. "I have a request I need you to handle discreetly."

If the scammers manage to get a reply from you, they will be able to tell that your email address is active and being monitored. They will also be interested in your email signature to see if they can get any extra email addresses or phone numbers.

If a cell phone number is provided to them, they will use text message as a medium to carry out their scam instead of email. This is done to bypass the mail filter, which has the ability to filter their messages.

The Scam

Once the scammer has you responding to their messages and convinced that they are someone else, they will then come up with a reason for you to give them money. This is typically done by asking you to buy gift cards. The scammer will claim that you will be reimbursed for the expense later. You will then be asked to scratch off the codes on the back and send pictures. Once the scammer uses these codes, it is very unlikely that you will be able to get back the money you spent buying the gift cards.

This kind of scam falls under the category of "Business Email Compromise" (BEC). You can read more about BEC scams here!

How to Catch

The “Are You Available?” scam often contains several red flags. The most important red flag to look for is an unusual sender address. If the message is being sent from a generic address (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) and not your supervisor's kent.edu address, then this is a strong indicator that the email is a scam. Our mail system may recognize this and include a warning in the scammer's message that they are using an email address that looks similar to that of someone at the university.

Another red flag to look for is poor grammar. This includes misspellings, strange word choice, and errors with punctuation. The message may also be poorly structured. For example, the scammer may not even include your name in their email, or might ask for your phone number in the email's subject line without including anything in the body.

Examples of the “Are You Available?” email can be seen below, with all the red flags highlighted.

An "Are You Available" email that uses urgency and authority to trick you into sending your cell phone number to the scammer.

A version of "Are You Available" that discusses a task that needs completed immediately.