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How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of a Scam

• If you received a job offer from a University of Central Missouri department, verify the job is posted on the .  If the job is not posted, it is a scam.
• Is the job offer too good to be true?  Jobs for unskilled workers with no experience should expect minimum wage.  If the offered wage is much higher, it is probably a scam.
• Search for the company online and contact the company to verify the job posting.  Do not use contact information contained in the email.  If you cannot find the company online, it is probably a scam. Threat actors may also maliciously claim to be an employee of a real company.
• Be suspicious of scare tactics, and anything requiring immediate response or immediate payment. 
• Government agencies will not call, email, or text you asking for any form of payment. 
• Be careful where you share your information online. Threat actors can and will collect email addresses and phone numbers from a variety of sources online.
• Never pay for a job.  Legitimate employers will never ask for payment.
• Do they promise payment in return for cashing a check? This is another red flag.  Never agree to cash a check for someone else.  Your bank may hold you liable for bounced checks or you could be prosecuted for money laundering.
• Financial transactions involving gift cards from anyone you do not know is a scam.
• Does the email contain spelling or grammar errors?  Reputable companies should have no spelling or grammar errors.
• Does the email contain a generic greeting (i.e. "Dear Student")?  Generic greetings are used in SPAM emails and may indicate a scam.
• Talk to someone you can trust such as a friend, your parents, or the Career and Life Design Center for advice about the offer. If the email was received in your UCM email, or is claimed to be from any individual or department at UCM, contact the Technology Support Center (TSC) for guidance.
• When in doubt, discard or ignore the message.

Common Scams

• Employment Scams

 These scams involve a threat actor sending an email or placing an ad online for a job opening, which pays a large amount of money for little work. Many times they offer a 鈥渨ork from home鈥� job that is part time when they are targeting students. They usually ask you to provide a list of information in response to the email. Once you provide them with the associated information, they typically ask for some sort of processing fee, certification payment, or other form of payment up front before the job can begin. If they are asking for payment up front, it is a scam. The FBI鈥檚 2020 Internet Crime Report states that employment scams were responsible for over $62 million in losses in 2020.

• Tech Support Scam

These scams typically involve a pop up website which claims your computer is locked, infected, or otherwise damaged, and to call tech support at a number provided on screen. Once the call is initiated, the threat actors will give instructions to allow them to connect to your computer. Once they are connected, they could install malware or otherwise damage the computer, and they also claim that there are critical errors with your computer that need to be resolved. They will then request payment in various forms in order to 鈥渇ix鈥� the computer. Any pop up with a sense of urgency is most likely a scam. Most of these claim to be 鈥淢icrosoft Support鈥�. Microsoft does not hand out their phone number for technical support to end users, so most websites claiming to be Microsoft technical support are scams. The FBI鈥檚 2020 Internet Crime Report states that employment scams were responsible for over $146 million in losses in 2020.

• Government Impersonation

These typically involve a spoofed phone call from your local area code (or other unrecognized phone numbers), where the threat actor claims to be from a government agency such as the Social Security Administration (Social Security), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as many more. They will claim there is some sort of fraud detected, a criminal act that was committed that was tied to you, a tax violation, or some other scenario which requires your immediate intervention. They will then request personal information and request some sort of payment. Do not under any circumstances send payment. Real government agencies will not request payment to make a problem disappear. In addition, do not share any personal information with the threat actors, as they may use it for identity fraud or to assist in other scams. The FBI鈥檚 2020 Internet Crime Report states that government impersonation scams were responsible for over $109 million in losses in 2020.

• Romance Scams

Romance scams involve someone creating fake profiles on dating sites and apps or social media. After harvesting public information about the user, they try to strike up a relationship with their targets, chatting many times daily. They will often claim they are working or traveling outside the United States, such as being a military member. After weeks, months, or sometimes even years, they come up with a story and ask for money. The story may involve needing a plane ticket to visit, medical expenses, debts, or travel documents. Do not, under any circumstances, pay someone who you have not personally met. The FBI鈥檚 2020 Internet Crime Report states that romance scams were responsible for over $600 million in losses in 2020. 

• Business Email Compromise 

,  or BEC scams typically involve an email that appears to come from a high level executive at an organization. This could be either a spoofed email or a compromised account. The threat actors typically send out an email message from these trusted sources requesting some sort of wire transfer, or payment via gift cards, Western Union, or other  payment methods to an unknown individual or external organization. They may also request information from you, such as social security numbers, tax information, and more. They could also leverage this trusted email account to send out malware and infect your device. Always verify any payment or purchase requests in person (or over a trusted channel like a previously known phone number) with the individual who requested them. Be suspicious of any sense of urgency or threats of termination that are sent via email, even if the sender appears to be trusted.

What if You Were Scammed?

• If you paid a scammer, contact the company you used to send the money to report the fraud and request to have the transaction reversed.  See the FTC's web site "" for additional information
• If you gave a scammer your password (i.e. logging into a scam web site), change your password on . If you use the same password anywhere else, change it there, too.
• If you provided personal information (i.e. social security number), visit
• Contact UCM's Department of Public Safety to file a police report at 660-543-4123

File a complaint with the FBI鈥檚