There is a recent text or SMS-phishing scam targeting UVA students. The scam appears to come from someone in authority at the University, often somebody you think is important, such as an associate Dean or department chair, asking if you can do them a favor  or give "urgent help".  It often starts with a text that says, "Are you available?".

The text typically asks you to only use text messaging to respond because the sender is occupied (in a meeting) and currently unable to take calls.  The scammer replies to your response, asking you to purchase gift cards, scratch off the back to reveal the gift card codes, and send pictures of the cards to them via reply text.  The person promises to pay you back as soon as they are back in the office, so don't worry if you have to use your own cash or credit card!   

Below is an image of an actual text message recently received by a student:

Don't fall for it! 

UVA faculty and staff should never ask a student to perform a task such as this.  If you receive a text that you think may be making such a request, first try contacting the sender using the email or phone number you have for them or use the UVA Internal People Search to get their phone number and email. Then use one of these to contact them to confirm they sent the text and it's legitimate. Do not reply to the text, which is likely not going to who you think the sender is anyway - it's going to the scammer. 

If you suspect the text is not legitimate, or are not sure, contact [email protected].  Be prepared to send screen shots of the conversation, similarly to the image above.