BU students caught in recent scams
Scammers coerce payments posing as retailers, Chinese govt
A rash of fraudulent activity at Boston University left one student wiring $150,000 overseas and another losing $25,000 to scammers, according to a recent alert from the college.
The most recent of four schemes happened last week when a BU student got a phone call from someone alleging to be a Chinese government official who accused the student of being involved in a crime.
The scammer created a ruse that led to video calls showing people in official looking uniforms using caller ID that replicated actual embassy telephone numbers.
The suspects told the student the only way to resolve the issue was to wire money overseas, and the student paid $150,000 in several installments before contacting campus police.
One day prior to that incident, a student got a phone call from someone who also claimed to be a Chinese government official, who accused the student of being involved in a crime.
That student wired $25,000 abroad before contacting police.
Two other instances of fraud happened that involved scammers posing as well-known retailers to trick the students.
A student got an email which appeared to be from Walmart regarding a job offer and the student started to text with the person.
The student was then sent a check for $2,800 and was asked to get money orders totaling $2,500 to send to the suspect and keep the difference as a paycheck. The student sent the money orders, then found that the check bounced.
The last student in four fraud schemes detailed by Boston University officials got a call from someone claiming to be from Amazon Services.
The person told the student if they sent $900 using a payment app, they would get $1,800 back for being a “secret shopper.”
The student forwarded the $900 and never got any money back.
BU officials are urging students to be vigilant by doing online searches about company and product names, spotting imposters that capitalize on fear and hanging up on robocalls or offers for free trials.
Officials are also advising students to be wary of caller ID as it can be manipulated and consider making payments with credit cards as they often have built in fraud protection.
A BU spokesman said none of the money in any of the situations has been recovered.