Why this looks valid
- The message appears to be from someone at Vassar College.
- The message has a personal greeting.
- It is likely the message appears to be from one of your supervisors at Vassar College.
Why this is fraud
- The originating email address is from gmail.com, not from vassar.edu.
- Grammatical errors are often indicators of malicious emails.
Additional notes
- iTunes gift card scams are common! There have been an increase in these scams over the last few months. Here is a summary news story about it: https://www.metro.us/news/the-big-stories/itunes-gift-card-scam
- A phone call to the alleged sender would quickly verify if this is a legitimate email. It only takes a few minutes to pick up the phone!
- A little paranoia goes a long way! Be suspicious of any email messages similar to this one.