CLEVELAND — Federal agencies are warning college students that new online scams are popping up.
"Whether it be a scam where they're trying to get your kids' money or their personal identifying information, there's all these different schemes depending on what age group you fall under," said Special Agent Patrick Koeth of the Cleveland FBI.
Recently the FCC issued a warning about the top scams: fraudulent scholarships, technical support, roommate and rental scams.
"I think it's just a lack of experience and almost that feeling of invincibility," explained Koeth.
Koeth says the bad actors are both in the U.S. and overseas, but will try to get personal information online -- like a student's social security number. Personal information that follows us for life.
But a college student's need for money is one of the ways they can get tricked into a scam. Koeth says bogus job listings are common.
"You might be applying for a summer job, or a job while you are in school and not realizing that's actually a fake job application. And they're just trying to get that information that you would normally turn over as part of you being hired for a job. "Hey, what's your bank account so we can direct deposit money to you? What's your birthday?" All this type of information which you would normally give not realizing that you are actually being scammed," Koeth said.
The job application might look the same as a legitimate one. But it will be for a company you've never heard of before. Or it will be for a job that seems too good to be true.
"And there are different instances where they might be asked to do something which seems benign but they're actually helping you know a bad actor commit a crime further," Koeth added.
This could be asking favors -- like moving money. Or relaying messages between two parties. Or the fake employer may claim to "overpay" on purpose.
"They'll get a job that doesn't actually exist. They'll be asked to do some meaningless tasks where it's like, "Oh, forward these emails." Or, "you're going to mail these things and we're going to send you your payment, okay? So we're going to send you a check," but the college student doesn't realize it's a bogus check. And the bad actor will say, "Oh, we overpaid you by $2,000. Please send us $2,000," well before the check even clears. The college student is probably going to send them their own money and that's where the fraud comes in," said Koeth.
Koeth recommends students do their research on the company. A quick internet search will show any complaints if this is a legitimate company.
"Use your common sense. If something's too good to be true be skeptical of it," he advised.
Koeth also recommends if you suspect your information did get stolen or got into the wrong hands -- take screenshots of everything you possibly can to preserve the information.