Scams Targeting College Students are Rampant this Year

As if first-year students don’t catch enough flack already, the Better Business Bureau is warning the public about two scams that are targeting college freshmen.

Scammers have been running ads for inexpensive apartments located near U.S. universities, the BBB reports. After receiving a call from an interested student, the scammer will either talk them into transferring a deposit to hold an apartment that doesn’t exist, or ask for the applicant’s vital information, which is then used to drain the student’s bank account, according to the bureau. A similar scam replaces the apartment ad with a help wanted ad, per the BBB.

Also, the Better Business Bureau says credit card scams are rampant this year. “If they are offering ridiculously low interest rates, it could be a scammer, and they want you to instead pay an upfront charge to get the credit card, so watch out for that,” says BBB rep Leah Napoliello. “And you also want to watch out if it is someone out of the blue saying they have this credit card for you.”

Have you ever fallen victim to a scam? Was is it so difficult for authorities to track down scammers?