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 [...]

A U. of I. student reported that she was contacted via social media platform WeChat by a person who said that they ran a service which could provide a discount on the student's tuition. The scammer directed the student to provide access to her university accounts, and also pay $26,800 to the scammer. In return, her $30,000 tuition bill would be paid. After the student paid the $26,800 fee via wire transfer, the tuition initially appeared to be paid. After a few days, however, the student's account balances reverted to the original amounts.

A U. of I. employee reported that she received an alert on her computer that it had a virus. The message instructed her to call a phone number to speak with an information technology representative. That representative asked for the employee's personal information, which she provided. He then directed her to purchase a gift card from a local retail store and provide the card information over the phone. The employee did so, and then reported the scam to police when she was directed to purchase more gift cards.

A U. of I. student reported that he had been the victim of a sexual extortion scam. The student accepted a friend request from an Instagram user with whom he was not familiar. The user encouraged the student to send intimate photos of himself, and then threatened to post those photos publicly unless the student paid money.

A U. of I. student reported that he was the victim of sexual extortion. About a month prior, an unknown person initiated a private conversation with the student through social media. The offender encouraged the student to send intimate photos of himself. The offender then began threatening the student and posting the photos on social media. The student has not responded to further phone calls and messages from the offender.