The University of Rhode Island community was the target of an ongoing phishing scam, according to a university-wide notice sent out by University of Rhode Island Police and Transportation and Parking on Feb. 6.
The scam, targeted at new URI students, promised individuals a parking pass for the semester in exchange for their vehicle information and a payment, according to the email.
TAP reminded the university body that the only legitimate way to obtain a parking pass is to login with their Single Sign On through the AIMS student portal or by directly contacting the TAP office, according to a university-wide notice.
TAP also encourages individuals that may have been offered a permit or purchased a permit from an unknown source to report the incident immediately to either TAP or URI Police.
URI Police Detective Mark Brasil is the lead detective on the investigation, according to URI Deputy Police Chief Paul Ricci. An individual came forward to the URI Police stating they had been scammed.
“The first thing we wanted to do was make sure their info is protected,” Ricci said. “Depending on what info they gave out, there would be a course of action that they would need to take; Secure their bank info, change their password, change the pin number if it was used for some reason.”
Ricci was not able to confirm a suspect at this time.
“At this point, because it’s under investigation, they can’t discuss much more about that,” Ricci said. “It is certainly being looked into.”
This is not the first time a phishing scam such as this one has occurred, according to Ricci. On Dec. 17, 2025, TAP and the URI Police sent out a notice about a nearly identical scam, specifically targeting first-year students. Police are unsure if the two are connected.
“It’s hard to say now,” Ricci said. “With the prevalence of AI and the internet, it’s not usually local, so it could be a group in another country. It could be somebody that is local as well, but at the end of the day it’s hard to say if they’re tied together.”
The URI Information Technology Services Security Office conducts an Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Training, mandatory for all URI students, according to URI Information Technology Services. Part of this training is the recognition of phishing scams, pointing out the warning signs and obvious elements of a typical phishing scam.
The training holds immense value, with all URI faculty and staff also required to complete the same cybersecurity training, according to Ricci.
“It’s helpful,” Ricci said. “There’s a lot of helpful information. Nothing can be all encompassing, but I know from going through that, they send us tests to see if you’ll click on a bad link, and if you do, you’ll get red flagged and they’ll say ‘Hey, you should not have clicked on that.’”
For students, the training can be easily done without paying much attention, and it felt inadequate, according to first-year students Ryker Ricciardi and Conor Brayton.
“I think they could have done a better job,” Ricciardi said. “I think I wasn’t really too prepared.”
Brayton was not appreciative of the quickness of the process.
“It was pretty easy to get through,” Brayton said. “I didn’t really have to pay attention. It felt like I didn’t learn anything.”
Ricciardi said the university should consider ways to make the training more engaging.
“Maybe they could have people do it during URI 101,” Ricciardi said. “That way they can make sure that people are doing it and actually paying attention.”
TAP and the URI Police encourage anyone who has been affected, has any information on the incident, or has any information on who may be behind this scam to call either the TAP office at 401-874-9281 or Brasil directly at 401-874-5580.
