Skip to main contentSkip to main navigation

Phishing Email Internship Scam (Security Alert)

January 13, 2026

It has come to our attention that several students have received and possibly replied to a phishing/scam email circulating in OCC student mailboxes. We are working to clean and quarantine these messages as quickly as they come in but it is possible that you may encounter one of these messages. The messages may come from different senders but they all have a subject line or body that pertains to internship opportunities with OCC. The email will list several types of internship opportunities and then request personal information be sent to an email address that appears to belong to an OCC employee in our Career Services department. These messages are a scam and not from OCC staff. Please report these messages as phishing by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner of the message and selecting “Report phishing” and then delete the message. Here are a couple of red flags to look out for to avoid falling for a scam email:

  • The email is from a sender that does not have an email address ending in @oaklandcc.edu. All official communication will come from an oaklandcc.edu email address.
  • The email asks you to reply with personal information. OCC will never ask you for personal information in an email.
  • OCC will never send you a request to pay for anything in gift cards or ask you to pay for internships or career services.
  • An OCC staff or faculty member will never ask you to send information to an email address that does not end in @oaklandcc.edu. 

If you receive a message that seems suspicious, please report using the phishing report button. This helps our email security system properly classify and remove the message from other mailboxes. If you are unsure about an email please reach out to the Student Technical Helpdesk for assistance. Also, if you forward your email from your student account to your personal email, be aware that the message may be forwarded to your personal email before it is remediated by our email security system.