No government agency will contact you and ask you to make a payment over the phone. If you are asked to make a payment, whether the scammer tells you to make it using a U.S. bank account, foreign bank account, gift card, or cryptocurrency, that is the first sign there is a scam.
DO NOT MAKE ANY PAYMENTS OVER THE PHONE. Scammers are becoming more sophisticated and are able to mask the number they call from so it looks like the FBI or the IRS.
Do you suspect you have been scammed or received a scam message/phone call?
- Contact ISSS and contact Public Safety so they can take a report of what happened.
- Public Safety may advise you to also file a police report with the Troy Police Department.
If you provided sensitive information, like your SSN or financial information, go to IdentityTheft.gov to report identity theft and get a recovery plan
- If the scam involved login credentials or card information, you need to contact your banks and credit card companies to inform them.
- If the scam involved financial information or personal information, you can prevent fraud of your identity by requesting a credit freeze or placing a fraud alert on your credit.
Depending on the type of scam, there are different government agencies for you to report the scam. For more details, visit this USA.gov website.
Known Scams
The IRS does not call to ask you for money. They only send you payment notifications via paper mail. Often scam callers say frightening words, such as a threat to arrest you if you do not pay [often by gift card], or say they will report you to ICE. If you get a call, note the caller's phone number and say you will call them back, then contact ISSS by phone immediately.
Beware of people pretending to be USCIS or Department of Homeland Security officers. The caller may threaten to deport you if you do not pay. They may ask for immigration information, such as your Alien Registration Number. These scammers are impersonating government representatives and may use SRC and HSI phone numbers to contact students (703-603-3400 or 757-441-6533). USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security will never contact you via phone.
Scammers may say your Social Security Number (SSN) will be suspended, and you may be asked to provide personally identifying information and/or payment to stop the suspension of your SSN. The SSN Administration will never call you.
Email phishing messages come from an email ending in .edu, and emails show the IRS logo and have subject lines like "Tax Refund Payment". Do not click any links in this email or submit information! The IRS has a set of instructions of how to report these emails to authorities. These cover what to do if your tax returns is rejected because someone has already filed a return with your Social Security number.
Scammers pretend to be DHL representatives and say a package you shipped from the U.S. to another country was stopped by customs and has illegally manufactured documents, like fake passports. You did not ship this package, but are kept on the line and then "transferred" to local police to provide your national identification number. You are not asked for money, but asked to provide identity proof. DO NOT PROVIDE YOUR NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER and instead get their phone number and name, and then contact ISSS.
Link to more details about this scam is available here. Please contact ISSS if this happens to you, and do not follow the instructions in the article.
There are a series of scams that target Chinese citizens. These scams involve people who pretend to be Chinese law enforcement. Click the links to learn more about each scam:
Click the links to learn about these scams:
- 10-Year Visa Scam
- Don't Be a Victim of Immigration Fraud NYC Flyer
