The scammers were taking bolder steps to impersonate Harvard. They bought a website from GoDaddy, HarvardCareer.com, in January 2020 and set up a Microsoft email server that would soon allow them to send messages stamped with Harvard’s name. Unlike earlier owners of the domain, they opted for privacy protection that obscured their names from public registries of website owners, the Times said.Razdan was then asked for references. Each of the people Razdan enlisted received an official looking email from HarvardCareer.com with a web link to upload a recommendation.Harvard says it fiercely protects its trademark, employing software to detect new websites that infringe on its brand, but Newton, the university spokesman, declined to say if it had detected HarvardCareer.com, the Times said.The scammers continued to use it to send emails, capitalising on Harvard’s reputation. They also copied employment documents from Harvard’s official website, using them as fodder as the scam advanced, the Times said.In February 2020, right before Covid-19 exploded across the world, Razdan was told the job was hers. She received a lengthy contract that included everything from arbitration clauses to details about dental insurance. In June 2020, she announced to the world, via Twitter, about her move to join Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences as an Associate Professor teaching journalism.Online classes were supposed to start in September. Right before classes were to begin, she received an email saying there was a delay because of Covid-19. The scammers would use the pandemic many times as an excuse for delays or slip-ups.They also asked her to install Team Viewer, which is software that enables computers to connect to each other. Team Viewer would allow the scammers to access files on her laptop, but Razdan didn’t know that. Trying to be helpful, she downloaded the software.
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