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OHSU falsely promises $7,500 to workers in phishing exercise

An email promising several thousand dollars for OHSU employees as a COVID-19 hardship bonus was actually a phishing exercise — a way to train employees not to be tricked by scams. OHSU workers weren’t getting a bonus after all.
Cyril "Kent" Anderson
/
OHSU Library
An email promising several thousand dollars for OHSU employees as a COVID-19 hardship bonus was actually a phishing exercise — a way to train employees not to be tricked by scams. OHSU workers weren’t getting a bonus after all.

In an email, OHSU promised $7,500 to all staff as a COVID hardship bonus. But the email was fake, and staged by its administrators.

This week health workers and other staff at Oregon Health and Science University were promised several thousand dollars as part of a COVID-19 hardship bonus. But the email was fake, and it was sent by their own administrators.

The email promised up to $7,500 in assistance “to all employees who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.”

“Supporting our employees, and community is essential during these challenging times,” it concluded.

The email included a link that took workers to a web page announcing that the email was a phishing exercise — a way to train employees not to be tricked by scams. OHSU workers weren’t getting a bonus after all.

“It was a tone-deaf response to everything we’ve been experiencing with COVID,” said OHSU registered nurse Natasha Swartz. “The hospital knows how much everyone is just struggling emotionally regarding the amount of extra work we’ve had to put in and the amount of loss we’ve seen over the last two years.”

OHSU later apologized for the email and deleted it from staffers’ inboxes.

In a statement, OHSU administrators called the phishing exercise a “mistake.” They said the email used the same language from a real phishing email that was sent to thousands of staffers.

“The real scam was insensitive and exploitive [sic] of OHSU members — and the attempt to educate members felt the same way, causing confusion and concern,” it reads.

Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit Oregon Public Broadcasting.

April Ehrlich is an editor and reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting. Prior to joining OPB, she was a news host and regional reporter at Jefferson Public Radio.