Several students have reported receiving emails regarding on-campus employment that are scams. To determine if an offer is a scam, look out for typos or errors in the messaging or an offer that is ‘too good to be true’. If you are looking for on campus employment, on-campus positions are listed on the Student Employment Office webpage. Please review the Student Employment website on Job Scams, this ISSS article on a recent scam targeting international students and the FBI’s Liaison Information Report on a recent scam targeting Chinese Nationals studying in the U.S.
If you receive a threatening call or message from someone claiming to be a U.S., state, or local government or law enforcement official, do not provide any personal or financial information and end the conversation immediately. You should then contact ISSS for additional support. The scammers will likely threaten you to not hang up the phone, but this is a tactic to try to intimidate you and keep you on the phone. The scammers may know information about you, which can make it seem like they are from the government. However, government agents and immigration officials will never call and ask for personal identifiable information over the phone. They will also never make threats of arrest or deportation over the phone and will never tell you that you cannot contact the ISSS office for help.
Please be aware of these common scam techniques to help protect yourself from a scam:
- Requests for payment by gift cards: No reputable business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. Only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card.
- Phishing: Scammers use phishing by sending an email or text that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company or from an online payment website or app. While real companies might communicate with you by email, legitimate companies won’t email or text with a link to update your payment information.
- Spoofing: Some scammers will manipulate caller ID technology so that it appears they are calling from a legitimate office or agency (e.g., FBI, IRS, USCIS, DHS, ICE, police). This is called spoofing.
- Intimidation: Scammers will try to scare and threaten you. They may threaten legal action such as arrest or deportation.
- Creating a crisis or a sense of urgency: Scammers are experts at convincing their target that this is an urgent and important situation. They try to convince you that they are in trouble, that they must act now to avoid arrest, deportation, or a higher fine. They say that you need to send payment or a deposit immediately for something important like an apartment, car, or laptop.
- Request for personal information: Be very suspicious when someone calls or e-mails you and asks for any personal or financial information such as your address, passport number, social security number, bank or credit account information, passwords, etc.
If you experience a scam, ISSS encourages you to report the scam to the local police in addition to any of the following offices:
- Federal Trade Commission
- Colorado Attorney General’s Office
- Reporting Immigration Scams Outside of Colorado
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tip Line (if applicable)
- Homeland Security Investigations Tip Line (if applicable)
If you released any information to a scam caller, please contact the following on-campus offices to seek additional support or assistance:
- Office of Victim Assistance (OVA)
- Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
- CU Boulder Police Department
Please carefully review the ISSS website on scams to learn how to protect yourself. You may also read about other common scams on this USCIS website.