College letter scams ramp up in time for enrollment

CHICO » While spring should be an exciting time for high school seniors applying for colleges and eagerly awaiting acceptance letters, it’s also a prime time for scammers to take advantage of that excitement and anxiety.

When I was in college, one of the big new scams to emerge was the promise of on-campus jobs. On the rare occasion I actually checked my student email, it wasn’t hard to find something like this in my spam folder.

Unfortunately, it seems this one is still alive and well.

The Federal Trade Commission offers up some advice regarding this type of scam as well as tips for identifying it.

In some cases, the scammer will pretend to be a professor or faculty member using an email format like your. name@collegename.edu. The “professor” offers up a part-time job to help make ends meet such as watching their home, walking their dog or helping out with class assistance.

Just when you think this is about to go south like a Lifetime movie, the person on the other end of that email sends a check, asks the target to deposit it and then send some to another individual.

“A while later, the bank realizes the check was fake and deducts the original check amount from your account.,” said a warning from the Federal Trade Commission’s website. “So, if you deposited a $1,000 check, they’ll take that back. But if you sent $400 to someone else, you’re now out $400 of your own money.”

And apparently, that amount is on the low side. According to the commission’s website, the median loss in 2019 was $1,988, which is quite a lot for a college student, or soonto-be college student.

In general, I would probably advise readers to avoid accepting these personal jobs from alleged faculty just because that is a little weird if you don’t have a family connection with the individual outside of school, but the chances are if you receive this email, it’s going to be a scammer.

Enjoy college, but be careful and consult with your advisers when receiving strange emails.