Last week, MSU parents and students received several messages inviting students to participate in the MSU Global Tech Experience. The messages stated that through the internship-alternative program, students could get hands-on experience from companies like Zillow, Google and NASA and “unlock a world of possibilities.”
What could dissuade someone from this opportunity? It turns out the constant messages, informal wording and too-good-to-be-true statements led many recipients to believe it was all a scam.
The program is not a scam, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Mark Largent confirmed. According to Largent, the MSU Global Tech Experience is a virtual internship program that MSU launched this May. Through the program, companies pose questions to student teams and provide them with data. Then, students answer the questions using data analytics, social media, communications and other skills. Students who participate and pay the $1,800 tuition can earn credits.
Like many internship and study abroad programs done through the university, the Global Tech Experience is facilitated through a separate vendor. The vendor, Podium, advertised the program in a manner that was starkly different from MSU’s typical tactics, leaving many recipients confused, believing the messages were scams.
One of the main red flags was the number of messages people received, which was multiple per day. Recipients were also thrown off by the messages’ casual, yet persistent tone. Texts started with “Hey (name of student)!” and ended with “you should reserve your spot ASAP.” Emails started with “Time’s almost up,” and follow-up emails were constant and short-winded.
On May 30, one anonymous Facebook user posted a screenshot of the text they received in the Michigan State Spartan Parent Group with the caption, “Assuming this isn’t legit?” Parents then shared their reactions to the “high pressure sales pitch” in the comment section of the Facebook post.
“My son recently received and declined,” one parent wrote. “Unnecessary follow up texts with pressure to sign up. Staff recruiting tactics very unprofessional and un-MSU. That’s what led me to believe it was a scam.”
Another parent said the messages appeared scam-like because the link provided, https://skills.gt.bbj20, did not have an MSU domain, discouraging people from clicking on it.
“This text message incorporates a number of techniques common in scam/phishing messages,” a parent commented. “I’m an information security professional and I would’ve advised my son or daughter to delete the message and report it. I’d recommend using a link with the official MSU domain … and avoid time-sensitive pressure lures like the last two sentences if you’re going to be promoting things via text/SMS.”
Largent commented on the post confirming the program’s legitimacy. Once MSU became aware of the concerns, they communicated with the vendor to align their approach with MSU’s culture and communication, Largent said.
“The vendor who we worked with had a very aggressive marketing campaign, which we said, ‘woah, that's not quite how we work at MSU. We kind of take a little softer approach to it,’” Largent said. “So there were growing pains for the first week or two, but I think we're all on the same page and comfortable now.”
Largent said another reason the messages raised suspicions was because they included texts. According to Largent, Podium was given access to the MSU directory with student names and contact information. Podium reached out to students via text, which is not a tactic that MSU typically uses. MSU has since told them not to use text and solely message students via email, Largent said.
“They're no longer texting unless a student reaches out to them and asks for additional information,” Largent said. “(Texting) is not a method that we use at MSU, and that’s not a part of the culture that we have. I think because the texting part of it was the out of the ordinary, that's what made it feel especially scammy to a lot of students.”
Despite concerns, MSU Police and Public Safety Communications Manager Dana Whyte said they had not taken any reports or received any tips from people who believed it was a scam.
Even with the initial challenges, Largent said he has heard from hundreds of students who are interested in the program.
“It really wasn't framed the way that we're used to framing things here,” Largent said. “It seems like other universities may have different ways to do things than we do, but I think we've got the vendor educated as to how we do things, so I think we've solved that problem.”
