Scam emails raise cyber security concerns across Saint Mary’s campus
Scam emails raise cyber security concerns across Saint Mary’s campus
Publish Date: 2026-02-04 00:01:00
Source Domain: www.ndsmcobserver.com
Over the past two weeks, students and faculty have faced concerns about phishing scams circulating via email across the Saint Mary’s College campus. Although few have been affected, the threat was significant enough to raise awareness from ResNet IT Security, the student IT services department. Students were put on high alert starting Jan. 26 via an email from ResNet.
“Over the last week, Saint Mary’s accounts have received numerous phishing scams with subject lines such as: ‘Reminder: Complete with DocuSign: Saint Mary’s College Proposal e-Signature Required and Unread Vehicle Document Available,’” the email wrote. “The messages are not coming from legitimate docusign.com addresses, and often the scammers are using legitimate Saint Mary’s email accounts.”
Due to the subtle nature of the scam emails, some recipients paid no mind to the seemingly normal day-to-day messages. One account affected was that of professor Andrew Pierce, whose account was compromised while working with students in class.
“I received a message from a student that I work closely with, referencing a ‘proposal.’ It seemed not unexpected that I would receive a proposal from her, given our work together, and so I opened it,“ Pierce stated. “The rest, as they say, is history. Luckily, our help desk noticed the abnormal behavior from my account and shut it down pretty quickly.”
He continued: “I reached out to our IT help desk, and they were able to get me logged back in and get the account back under my control. That process was pretty straightforward and efficient for me.”
For hacked accounts, any email addresses that they had had contact with at any time were then forwarded the messages that the IT department later warned against. This resulted in dozens of emails and URLs being sent out from compromised accounts. Freshman Lauren Matthews experienced this firsthand, receiving an email from a professor…
