When UI freshman in Business Kaylea Murphy, searched the Internet to purchase tickets to a University football game, she had no idea that it would lead to the loss of $50.

Murphy went onto the “University of Illinois Class of 2014” Facebook page where she came into contact with someone who offered to sell two student vouchers for $25 each. After the exchange at Foellinger Auditorium, Murphy’s friend noted that the vouchers looked slightly different from the ones she had purchased.

“The vouchers were just a tiny bit grainy and the perforation on the edges was smaller than real student vouchers,” Murphy said. “The only reason we caught it was because the friend that was with me had student vouchers … I personally would have never known the difference.”

Though Murphy immediately called the police, they were unable to catch the culprit. Murphy is one of many college students who fall victim to scams every year.

Housing Scams

Students are continuously warned about the headaches that can arise from poor roommate and landlord selection. Few, however, are informed of how they could lose hundreds of dollars from a potential roommate who in reality, has no intention of ever moving in.

Esther Patt, coordinator of the UIUC Tenant Union, explained that many housing scams take place when a person posing as an incoming international student answers a sublet ad for an apartment.

“They say that they would like to send you a certified check for an amount that is more than the amount of money you are requesting,” Patt said. “They ask you to take out the portion you need and then to send the difference to some local ‘family member’ who will use the money to purchase their plane ticket.”

According Patt, the check then bounces, leaving you out of the money you sent and having to pay the fee that goes along with bouncing a check.

Though Patt has seen a decline in the number of complaints regarding these scams, she urges students to be smart during their housing and roommate hunts. She said that it is okay to use sites like Craig’s List, but students should never exchange any money until the official leasing contract is signed.

Financial Aid Scams

Applying for financial aid can often be overwhelming. Students must usually fill out numerous papers and provide a lot of personal information. These elements help scammers target college students with financial aid scams. Victor Martinez, associate director of the Financial Aid Office, asks students to be wary of financial aid programs or scholarships that ask for some sort of payment beforehand.

Martinez suggests that students visit www.finaid.org, a website that provides information about the different types of scams as well as how to effectively report one.

He says warning signs of a financial aid scams include “unusual requests for personal information, notification of winnings by phone and programs that do not have a concrete telephone or mailing address.”

Job Scams

Lisa Freiburg, senior in Media, knew something was off when she could not find a website for an organization she had applied to through an online job board. Despite this, Freiburg decided to continue and schedule an interview with the company.

“They gave me a number that I was supposed to call to set up the interview,” Freiburg said. “The first time I called it went to a voicemail recording saying, ‘Hi, you’ve reached Kristen’s phone.’ I was supposed to get a hold of a guy, so I was really confused.”

A few days later, Freiburg received an e-mail from a former employee of the “company” notifying her that it was a scam.

Pnina Steiner, senior director at the Business Career Center, has seen a rise in various types of job scams of this nature. She said that many times if a job seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

She encourages students to do in-depth research on the companies they plan on applying to. According to Steiner, it’s important to avoid job-postings with typos in the job description or ones that provide a personal e-mail instead of a company one.

Students can take advantage of any of the career services on campus and websites, such as “I-Link,” in order to avoid falling victim to these schemes.