A U. of I. student received a call from someone purporting to be an “ambassador” from Chicago, who said that the student was under police investigation for international money laundering. The student was interrogated by the scammer for several hours, during which she was prompted to disclose personal and financial information. The student was instructed to maintain video contact with the offender via Skype under threat of arrest. The offender then instructed the student to send the equivalent of $106,000 to a third party in transactions that occurred over multiple days.

A U. of I. student reported that she had been the victim of fraud. The student received a social media message from a person who purported to be interested in an apartment sublease that the student’s roommate had advertised on Facebook. The interested person sent a digital image of check for $2,500 to cover the first month’s $440 in rent and directed the student to send the $2,060 balance to a third party. The student did so, and then several days later was informed by her bank that the original check was invalid.

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.