BOSTON — Four Boston University students have been scammed out more than $175,000 since the start of September, the university said in an announcement.
In the most recent incident, which was reported to the Boston University Police Department on Wednesday, the student received a phone call from an unknown individual who claimed to be a member of the Chinese Government accusing them of being involved in a crime.
The scammers also spoke to the student via video conferencing that showed people wearing official looking uniforms and using caller ID information that replicated the actual Chinese Embassy phone numbers.
Another incident, which was reported to police Sept. 14, also involved a student receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be a Chinese government official. They were also told they had been involved in a crime and needed to wire money. The student complied and sent $25,000 before contacting police.
The suspects then told the student that the only way to resolve the issue was to wire money. The student complied and wired $150,000 in several installments before contacting police.
A third incident involved a student being contacted by someone claiming to be from Walmart regarding a job offer. The victim ended up sending $2,500 in money orders.
The fourth incident involved a student being contacted by someone claiming to be from Amazon asking to send $900 via a payment app and would receive double the money back for work as a “secret shopper.”
“We urge all members of our community to be vigilant against theft and fraud,” the university said in the announcement. “Please take a moment to consider a possibility that the situation may be a scam or fraud.”