Winter Garden Today

Alamo Colleges issued the following announcement.

Alamo Colleges District is continuing to warn students of scams in which a person is contacting students through their student.alamo.edu email address regarding job offers.

The scammers claim to be offering students jobs.

Three scenarios have been reported, but additional approaches could be occurring. They are:

• The student is contacted by email and offered a job. The student is then directed to deposit a check into their personal account as part of a payment to clients. This check is fraudulent.  
• The student is contacted by email and offered a job along with a check to cover expenses. The student does receive a check, which is refused at the bank as fraudulent.
• The student is emailed a job offer at a local company along with a contact name. The email states that the student is to submit a $2,500 money order to the company. Later, the student receives an offer of funds through a phone app to help pay for the money order.

The security and privacy of student information is a high priority at the Alamo Colleges District.

• Alamo Colleges District may occasionally contact students via email, text, or phone call.

• The Alamo Colleges staff will never request that students pay a fee to receive funds or a job.

• A full social security number will never be requested from a student over the phone.

If students receive an email or call and are unsure that it is a legitimate contact from the Alamo Colleges, do not respond. Close the email or hang up. If a student thinks they may have been the victim of a scam, call the ACD Police Department non-emergency line at 210-485-0099.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a consumer alert page with scam information on check scams and job offer scams.

Original source can be found here.