Scammers are always looking for new ways to take advantage of students, faculty and staff.
Published October 16, 2025
With increasing opportunities to hand out our personal information, the number of online scams are skyrocketing. Here's a look at the most common scams affecting UB and the steps you can take to avoid them.
Scams happen when we provide scammers the chance to access our information.
Scammers are also compelled, first and foremost, by financial gain.
Why are students overwhelmingly the target of some of these scams? In particular, students comprise 95% of all targets for fake job offers, because students are more likely looking for flexible or remote work opportunities (which conveniently means you'll never meet the person scamming you in person). Students may also be in greater need of a job.
International students may be more frequently targeted by scammers, who often exploit language barriers and unfamiliarity with local digital norms to make fraudulent messages appear more convincing.
Phishing is the most common ways scammers gain access to your personal information by trying to establish a relationship or gain your trust. Phishing attempts don't just target email, either. Scammers may use:
In particular, look out for:
Despite the typical spelling and grammar errors, scam emails can look surprisingly legit. Scammers often impersonate large, reputable organizations (even UB!) by taking their logos and branding from another online source to make their scam emails look more official.
Follow the instructions on the UBIT website for reporting a phishing attempt if you think you have received one.
Fake job scams
Someone contacts you with a “too good to be true” job opportunity: common offers include caregivers, mystery shoppers, administrative assistants, rebate processors or models/influencers. These jobs, while often entry-level, claim to offer great pay, short working hours and lots of flexibility.
Some variations of this scam offer to find you a job placement, or to get you to buy gift cards, bitcoin or other purchases, but these scams use several different tactics.
Fake job scams can appear as though they come from a company, or an individual (for example, you may receive an email asking you for recommendations for a tutor).
Look out for:
Ways to stay safe:
Supervisor/"gift card" scams
You receive an email from someone who claims to be a UB official, or maybe even your supervisor… but isn’t. They need something done quickly, but can’t talk over the phone. Typically, they’ll ask you to buy gift cards for them.
Look out for:
Ways to stay safe:
Immigration scams
International students are often the target of this scam, in which someone calls you and threatens deportation unless you give them money immediately. This scam is quite common, and there are easy ways to detect it:
Look out for:
Ways to stay safe:
Cryptocurrency investment scams
This scam, spotted by the FBI in 2022, targets mainly Chinese American professors. According to the FBI:
"Criminals contact Chinese American professors, claim to be associated with legitimate investment firms, with branches in Asia, and solicit investments in cryptocurrency. The scammers communicate in both Mandarin and English while using email and instant messaging applications. If the scammers are successful in obtaining wire transfers, they direct their victims to fraudulent financial platforms that display fake account balances, and funds which are not available for withdrawal."
Look out for:
Ways to stay safe:
Tax scams
In 2021, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) warned that scammers were targeting .edu email addresses with a tax scam where they impersonate the IRS and ask people to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund. These scams use the IRS logo in their email, and various subject lines like "Tax Refund Payment" or "Recalculation of your tax refund payment."
The link in the email leads to a fake IRS site that collects your social security number, date of birth and other information that can be used to fradulently steal your refund.
During tax season, if you're waiting on or unsure of the status of your refund, you should check the IRS' official Where's My Refund? page on IRS.gov.
If you think you have been the victim of a scam, there are several steps you should take:
UB Information Technology News keeps UB students, faculty, and staff informed about their IT services and showcases creative collaborations between UBIT and the campus community. Published by the Office of the Chief Information Officer at UB and distributed via email as The Monthly Download. Edited by Diana Tuorto, IT Communication and Engagement, dianatuo@buffalo.edu.