Hello everyone, we are here to discuss the dangers of online scamming. The following story is a real-life example of online scamming that happened to someone close to me, but for the sake of this post, I will discuss this as my own story.
During my freshman year of college at the University of Nevada, Reno, I was looking around for research positions under my major. During that period of time, I was using my student email (@nevada.unr.edu) to email many professors (@unr.edu). One day, I got an email with the designation of a professor’s email, but it had a warning saying the email was outside my organization, regarding a position that would entail me working in a lab as an equipment manager and also a lab volunteer. While both positions were not what I wanted, it gave me the opportunity to get into a lab. So, I started discussing the process with the professor. They needed me to buy some materials and come into the lab. While that set off some alarms in my head, I continued, as I had never been part of a lab, so I did not know the exact process. The materials needed to be bought through the lab card so I could be reimbursed later on, so I was requested to transfer a large sum of money to the account. This is where I decided to visit the professor’s office, as I had some questions regarding the materials and such. When I visited the professor, though, he did not know me, the lab position, or about the money. So, that is when I blocked the email and stopped the transfer of money. While there was no harm done in the end, there were quite a few problems that I could have identified in order to preemptively put a stop to this scam.
This scam could have been identified a few times throughout the story. First and foremost, the email being outside of the organization was a big red flag. While it had an @unr.edu designation, Gmail does not just glitch on things like that. Second, the positions offered were not exactly things you would see for a student in a research lab. Next is the fact that I had to spend money before even joining the lab. This would probably be the biggest red flag overall since this shows the end goal of the scam: the need for money. Also going hand in hand with that is the fact that I could not just buy the material, but rather, I had to transfer the money first. There will always be a receipt reimbursement option. All of these are just the flags in this example; things are always going to be different based on the situation, but the end goal of the scam is usually either gaining personal information or gaining some amount of money. So, watching for some of these red flags will help you stay away from scams, or rather, from falling victim to these scams.
This was a really realistic example of how scams can feel legitimate, especially when they mimic trusted sources like university emails and professors. I liked how you pointed out the red flags, especially the request for money upfront, and how verifying in person ultimately protected you.
Understanding the red flags now, it would have been an easy situation to get out of now, but back then it made it harder cause it was covered up so well.
Thank you for sharing this experience! It’s a really valuable cautionary tale, especially for students navigating research opportunities for the first time. I’m glad you trusted your instincts and verified in person before any real damage was done.
Yeah, having a real person being involved will always help assess the situation a little easier.
Really good insights on the dangers of scamming. Phishing emails give many organizations troubles, even for my former company — where NDAs were present, phishing emails were a real concern for the safety of confidential information relative to the company.
Companies are usually easy targets as they have secure servers. A single hole could lead to a whole takedown of the company.
Your story shows how convincing scams can be when they’re make to look connected to school or work opportunities. It is a good example of why is it good practice to always watch for red flags and verify things before giving out personal information or money.
The easiest way to phish someone is by using a familiar organization. So yeah my story reflects a common scam, but still shows how easily dangerous it can be for anyone.