As part of a U.S. college search, some prospective international students and their parents will research campus safety. While looking into safety statistics and resources, families may come across mentions of fraud schemes that target international students in the U.S.
Scammers may contact a potential victim by email, phone or other means. But the common thread is that students are asked to transfer money, sometimes thousands of dollars, or share personal information, often with the threat that something bad will happen to them if they don’t comply.
[Read: 6 Types of Safety Resources at U.S. Colleges.]
According to a recent report from the National Center for Campus Public Safety, a group of university and law enforcement officials identified fraud, typically online, as one of the most common crimes affecting international students studying in the U.S.
As a preventative measure, university police departments and international student services offices work to educate international students about scams. Schools get the word out in different ways — oftentimes, they will email students as well as post a scam alert on their website or Facebook page.
“Scams are becoming creative,” wrote Roopa Rawjee, assistant dean of students and director of international student services at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in an email. “Scammers are coming up with new ideas and quickly moving on.”
Within the last several weeks, both the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and UW–Madison have posted notices online about scams recently reported by students.
An international student at UW–Madison almost lost around $5,000 to scammers in an incident that occurred earlier this month, says Marc Lovicott, director of communications for the UW–Madison Police Department.
The student was trying to buy thousands of dollars worth of Google Play gift cards at a convenience store. The store clerk realized that something wasn’t right and flagged a nearby university police officer, Lovicott says.
The student was on the phone with an individual who claimed she would be arrested if she didn’t pay off the arrest warrant with gift cards, Lovicott says. The police officer recognized immediately that this was a scam, but it took the officer a while to convince the scared student that the person on the phone was lying.
In this case, the student didn’t buy the gift cards, but not all students are so lucky. The UW–Madison Police Department encourages students to file a report if they lose money to a scammer. But Lovicott says it’s extremely difficult to get those funds back.
“These cases are so darn frustrating because once that financial information is gone, there’s not a whole lot we can do,” he says.
International students can protect themselves from scams by being both knowledgeable and skeptical, experts say.
[Read: How International Parents Can Research U.S. College Safety.]
Learning about the nature of different types of scams, even before arriving in the U.S., can help students identify fraudulent calls and emails, and therefore avoid falling for them and losing their money. Some common types of scams mentioned by experts include those related to immigration, housing and taxes. Scammers may ask students to purchase gift cards and give them the codes, as was the case with the UW–Madison student, or request a wire transfer.
Numerous university and government websites list common types of scams international students may encounter. For example, Yale University‘s Office of International Students & Scholars’ website lists several common scams. And Joan Fiesta, a lieutenant at the University of Illinois Police Department, notes this website from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which has alerts about recent scams that have been reported, though they aren’t specific to international students.
Additionally, to hear an example of a scam phone call, students can watch this video that the UW–Madison Police Department posted on its Facebook page in April, which was filmed after a scammer called the police station.
If international students receive a suspicious-sounding call, email or other type of message, there are people at a U.S. college or university they can turn to for assistance.
[Read: College vs. University in the U.S.: What’s the Difference?]
“We advise our students to scan their calls and either not answer calls from unknown numbers or to hang up immediately if it is someone they do not know,” Rawjee says. She adds that students should speak with the university police or an international student adviser before responding to any demands for money.
And students should keep in mind that government agencies and police departments will never call them and demand money, Lovicott says.
At the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, if students receive a call or email saying that they are in legal trouble, the university police department can determine if the message is legitimate, Fiesta says. She says students shouldn’t be afraid to interact with university police officers and ask questions.
“Coming to us is not a risk,” Fiesta says. “Providing the person online or on the phone with personal information, that’s the risk.”
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How Prospective International Students Can Avoid Scams originally appeared on usnews.com
