If you have a college student who's starting a new school year, Better Business Bureau® recommends talking to them about taking care of their money and personal information while they're on campus.
College is the first time many young adults are out on their own and spending more money. New students often have clean credit records and may be navigating big financial decisions like loans, scholarships, or budgeting for the first time – making them a target for scammers and identity thieves.
Though younger people are perceived as tech-savvy, they may also be financially inexperienced, and fraud can happen to anyone. A study by the BBB Institute found that people ages 18-24 were similarly susceptible to scams as other age groups and had a higher median loss to scams than any other age group. In the FBI’s most recent IC3 Annual Report, people 29 and under reported scams at a rate similar to other age groups, though their total monetary loss was smaller.
“Scammers won’t just go after a student’s money. Sometimes, their goal is to exploit a young person’s clean credit record,” said Michelle L. Corey, BBB St. Louis president and CEO. “BBB recommends talking with your student about ways they can protect themselves from fraud now that they’re more independent.”
How can college students avoid identity theft?
- Send sensitive mail to a safe address. School mailboxes are not always secure. Have important documents sent to a parent’s home or a post office box.
- Lock up important info. Store documents like your Social Security card, passport and bank statements somewhere safe. Shred any paper documents that have sensitive financial information.
- Keep your credit cards safe. Don’t lend your credit or debit card to anyone, not even a friend. Keep your cards out of sight and make sure no one can see when you're entering your PIN.
- Protect your devices. Make sure your phone, laptop or tablet has antivirus software. Keep up with updates to your operating system or browser software to help protect your devices from scammers’ newest tactics. Use strong passwords for online accounts and don’t share them with anyone.
- Check bank accounts and credit for suspicious activity. The sooner you identify any potential fraud, the more likely you’ll be able to recover your money or personal information – so check your financial accounts frequently for any suspicious activity. Set up automated fraud alerts with your bank. You can check your credit report once a year for free at annualcreditreport.com.
- Job hunt safely. BBB's most recent Scam Tracker Risk Report showed that employment scams were the riskiest scam for people ages 18-24. Be wary if someone offers you a job out of the blue, research companies before applying and never pay someone for a job.
How can college students protect their money from scams?
- Check out companies with BBB when shopping online. Online shopping scams are one of the most common ways that people lose money or personal information. And while you’ve probably seen an online listing that looked sketchy before, these scams aren’t always easy to spot. Search any company or website at BBB.org to make sure it's legitimate and read reviews. Look for secure websites with a padlock icon and “https://” in the URL before you pay.
- Be careful with social media ads. Pretty much anyone can post an official-looking social media ad, including scammers or untrustworthy companies. To avoid lookalikes, it’s safer to go directly to a company’s website instead of clicking the ad. If a deal on a viral item seems too good to be true, it probably is – that’s a common way scammers reel people in.
- Know which ways are safe to pay. Pay businesses with a credit card whenever possible and keep your receipts. That way, you can dispute a charge if something goes wrong. Be cautious if someone asks you to pay for something with a payment app, prepaid gift card or wire transfer.
What can students do if something goes wrong?
- Think you’ve been scammed? BBB can help. If you’re a college student out on your own, it can be overwhelming to know what to do if you lose money or information to someone. BBB’s Scam Survival Toolkit can walk students through a personalized recovery plan.
