University of Pennsylvania Students and Alumni Scammed by Disparaging Email
A fake email sent to students and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania has sparked outrage, with the university confirming that it is a scam. The malicious message, which appeared to come from the Graduate School of Education, targeted Penn's reputation and called for a boycott against donating to the Ivy League school.
The email, shared online by a PhillyVoice investigation, used derogatory language towards Penn and its students, labeling the university "elitist" and claiming it had poor security practices. The message also criticized Penn's use of affirmative action in admissions, which was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
Despite efforts to inform recipients that the email is fake, many people reported receiving multiple copies of the message, including some without any affiliation with the university. The Office of Information Security at Penn has confirmed it is working to address the issue and assure students that the message "nothing in the highly offensive, hurtful message reflects the mission or actions of Penn or of Penn GSE."
This latest scam serves as a reminder that online phishing scams can be particularly effective, often appearing to come from trusted sources. In this case, the attackers have attempted to exploit concerns around affirmative action and university policies, making the message all the more insidious.
The incident is not an isolated one for Penn students, who previously received a satirical email in which the school's Board of Trustees was implicated in a plot to undermine President Larry Jameson. The university has faced similar challenges in dealing with fake emails and online scams in recent years.
A fake email sent to students and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania has sparked outrage, with the university confirming that it is a scam. The malicious message, which appeared to come from the Graduate School of Education, targeted Penn's reputation and called for a boycott against donating to the Ivy League school.
The email, shared online by a PhillyVoice investigation, used derogatory language towards Penn and its students, labeling the university "elitist" and claiming it had poor security practices. The message also criticized Penn's use of affirmative action in admissions, which was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
Despite efforts to inform recipients that the email is fake, many people reported receiving multiple copies of the message, including some without any affiliation with the university. The Office of Information Security at Penn has confirmed it is working to address the issue and assure students that the message "nothing in the highly offensive, hurtful message reflects the mission or actions of Penn or of Penn GSE."
This latest scam serves as a reminder that online phishing scams can be particularly effective, often appearing to come from trusted sources. In this case, the attackers have attempted to exploit concerns around affirmative action and university policies, making the message all the more insidious.
The incident is not an isolated one for Penn students, who previously received a satirical email in which the school's Board of Trustees was implicated in a plot to undermine President Larry Jameson. The university has faced similar challenges in dealing with fake emails and online scams in recent years.
. I've been a Penn alum for ages, and it's just disgusting that scammers would try to take advantage of good people like that. Those students and alumni were already stressed out enough, what with exams and careers and life stuff... and then they get hit with some fake email that's basically trash talk? It's not cool, you know? 
. And let's not forget, these scammers are just trying to make a buck off people's fears and insecurities. It's pretty cowardly if you ask me 
.
! Like I'm reading about some old news from like 2019 or something... wasn't there another one of these scammers trying to ruin Penn's rep a few months back? And didn't we just learn about that whole Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action like last year? 
.
Like, no offense, PhillyVoice, but you can't just fake an investigation and get away with it! You gotta fact-check, guys 
.
just heard about this fake email sent to UPenn students and alumni... like, who tries this? 
gotta stay vigilant online, i guess 
. it's already hard enough dealing with student loans and financial stress, last thing we need is someone trying to scam us with fake emails 
. so yeah let's hope the university gets this sorted out and we don't have any more fake emails ruining our days 
and it's not even like they're trying to make a point or anything, they're just spreading lies and trying to hurt people's feelings. i'm so sorry that all these students had to go through this, especially since it was trying to trick them into thinking it was legit 
. the fact that it was labeled as "nothing reflects the mission of Penn" is just a nice way of saying we're gonna sweep this under the rug 
. anyway, let's all just take a deep breath and focus on spreading kindness instead 
this whole thing is like a mirror reflecting our own vulnerabilities online... I mean, think about it, we're all just one click away from being scammed into believing something that sounds too good (or bad) to be true 
. It's a reminder that just because we're online, it doesn't mean we're immune to manipulation 
... 'cause at the end of the day, it's just not worth our time and emotional energy 
.
And btw, I'm loving the fact that Penn has a great team to deal with these kinds of things - they're like, totally pros at it! 
, I'm so disappointed that people would stoop to sending out hate mail like this. It's just ridiculous that they think they can get away with spreading negativity about a reputable institution like Penn. And poor security practices? Come on... those things are not something to be taken lightly, but it's all just a bunch of misinformation. I feel bad for the students who got caught up in it, gotta keep their cool and report these scammers to the right people! 
. university security should really step up their game tho 
, using fake emails to ruin peoples' days 
. Like, who tries to be that mean? 
The fact that they were able to spread it so fast 
and get so many people upset 
, and everyone deserves respect 
. It's not about being "elitist" 
(although that's super important too 
). It's just nasty 
and working to make sure this doesn't happen again 
. And can we please, for the love of all things good 
? It's not worth getting hurt 
over. 
.
.
. Anyway, Penn needs to step up its game and make sure students are protected from this kind of thing. It's not like they're going to learn from their mistakes if nobody says anything 
this is so wild that someone would try to scam people like that, making it look like its coming from a legit source 
. this is why we need to always fact-check and verify the authenticity of messages before responding or sharing 
like how can ppl do this? making fake emails that sound legit and sending it out to people who got nothing to do with the actual issue. it's not even like they're trying to steal anything, they're just trolling and hurting people's feelings. u know, i was a student at PSU once and i remember getting those kinds of emails too... it's always scary when you get one that looks legit but something feels off. anyway, it's good that Penn is taking action though 
gotta hand it to penn though, they're taking this seriously and getting their info security team on it ASAP 
. what's even crazier is that these scammers knew exactly which buttons to press - affirmative action, security practices... that's some low-hanging fruit right there 
.