A U. of I. student reported that he was invited to chat on Instagram by an unknown person. The conversation became sexual in nature, and the unknown person invited the student into a video chat to perform intimate acts. When the video chat ended, the unknown person instructed the student to send $1,000 under threat of sending the video to the student's social media contacts.

A U. of I. student reported that he attempted to purchase an iPhone being offered for $500 on the OfferUp app. The student contacted the seller and ultimately paid for the phone using a mobile banking app, but the phone was never shipped.

A U. of I. student was at work and received a phone call from a person purporting to be the business owner. The fake owner said that the student was expecting a package and needed to pay costs associated with it. The fake owner requested that the student send a total of $1,140 in two transactions, one through a mobile payment app and the other through a wire transfer. The student was then directed to attempt to pry open the business' safe and send money from it. She was stopped by a coworker.

A U. of I. student reported that she contacted an unknown person on Facebook after seeing an ad that the person was offering a free laptop computer to anyone who paid the shipping costs. The student sent $62 via an online payment app for shipping. The scammer indicated that she needed another $50, which the student sent. The student never heard anything further about the computer or shipping.

A U. of I. student reported that he attempted to sell a pair of shoes on Instagram and received a message from an unknown person who purported that they were interested in buying the shoes. The faker buyer claimed she needed $200 to pay a Venmo fee so that she could proceed with sending the funds for the shoes. The student sent the $200. The fake buyer then asked for $400 in gift cards in two subsequent requests, which the student sent. The student contacted police after sending the emails to Venmo, which confirmed that the messages were fake and [...]