Eman Ghacham/The Cougar
Young adults today have become targets for scammers, especially at university level. According to Better Business Bureau’s 2023 Scam Tracker Risk Report Study, ages 18-24 reported having a higher financial loss due to scams than other age groups.
This is due to scammers preying on vulnerable individuals. For most, college is their first taste of adulting meaning they could be unaware of the risk of sharing personal information making it easy for scammers to profit off of naive university students.
It is crucial for students to be able to recognize a scam and know what personal information should stay private in order to stay safe.
Here are some of the most frequent scams targeting university students:
Scholarship scams
Extra financial aid for college is crucial for students since college can be very expensive. Often students look online for scholarships, loans and grants they can use to pay off their education.
Scammers will call, text, email, post on social media and use other forms of communication offering students scholarships.
In such situations, be careful if scammers ask for an application fee for financial assistance. If they do, it is most likely a scam trap.
Textbook scam
Textbooks can be pricey and at times even professors recommend buying a used textbook online to save money. However, students should be wary when buying from an online website or from someone else.
When shopping from an online store make sure the website is verified and be careful of overly discounted textbooks since this is commonly a scam.
If students are buying from an individual in-person or online, make sure to know or trust the individual since in most cases these types of sales require a peer-to-peer form of payment, such as paypal, venmo and zelle, that are difficult to recover funds from if the transaction was a scam.
Job scams
UH students often receive emails on their student accounts with job offers. Luckily students often receive another email shortly after from UH warning them of a possible job scam.
However, it is important to still know how to detect a job scam. Beware of any too good to be true promises such as high pay, remote jobs and short hours.
If you are desperately looking for a job, rely on career fairs and verified recruiters that visit campus during organized events.
Housing scam
Students often are on the lookout for an apartment or house to rent for the next school year. Scammers will post rental properties with pictures from other real listings.
However, they offer a huge discount and often pressure to leave a deposit to secure the property. Students should always make sure to see the property and meet the landlord before sending any type of payment.
