A U. of I. student was contacted by an unknown person who encouraged him to send intimate photos of himself. The other person demanded that the student pay money or the photos would be sent to the student’s social media contacts. The student paid, and then blocked the phone number. When the photo was posted online, the student paid additional money. The student called police after the photo was posted a second time. In total, the student lost $876.

A U. of I. student reported that she was scammed out of $2,000 Australian dollars that she was attempting to convert to Chinese Yuan. The student joined a social media group and asked for help converting the money. Another user indicated he could help, and the student sent him the money. A day later, he claimed he had not received it, but the student’s bank confirmed he had. The offender then stopped returning the student’s messages.

A U. of I. student attempted to contact someone who purported to be a leasing agent about an apartment listing. The agent told the student that he needed to pay a $95 application fee before the apartment could be shown. On the day of the showing, the leasing agent did not show up and was not reachable. The student was able to contact the real leasing agent for the apartment, who indicated that his online accounts had been hacked.

A U. of I. student sent intimate photos of himself to an unknown person while conversing through a mobile dating application. The other person demanded that the student pay $1,000 or the photos would be sent to the student’s social media contacts. The student did not pay.

A restaurant employee received a call from an unknown person purporting to be the restaurant’s regional manager. The caller instructed the employee to remove cash from the restaurant’s register, convert it to cryptocurrency and send the funds to other accounts. The employee transferred $1,250 of the restaurant’s money.