Beware of Scams

Scams use misleading information to demand payments or financial information. These scenarios can sound very scary and urgent—their tactic is to intimidate and confuse you into following their demands.

Real U.S. government officials (immigration, tax, police) will NEVER call, email, or text and demand payment or financial information.

Other common scam examples

• A Job offer requiring payment from you to begin.
• A request for you to purchase products with your personal money.

Resources

• UCSC Information Technology Service (ITS)
  • Protect yourself from online scams
  • How to identify and report phishing emails
  • Types of phishing scams
  • What problems can phishing emails cause?
  • Data entry phishing
  • What to do if you’ve responded to a phishing scam
• UC Santa Cruz Police – Scams
• Federal Trade Commission: Avoiding Scams
• IRS: Recognize Tax Scams and Fraud

How to respond if you think you are being scammed

• Do not give any personal or financial information
• Do not make any payments requested by the caller/sender
• Avoid making any urgent decisions
• Report it:
  • UCSC Campus Police via (831) 459-2231 ext. 1
  • ITS Support Center (emails to your UCSC account)
  • USCIS (immigration-related fraud)
  • Federal Trade Commission
  • Department of State (866) 283-9090 or jvisa@state.gov
• When in doubt, contact IFSS at ischolar@ucsc.edu.