Phony Fliers Attempt To Scam Students

By Patrick Fitzgerald

Fraudulent flyers posted around City College’s Ocean Campus on designated billboards and in classrooms advertising online work for $12 per hour caught the attention of campus police after several students reported them as a bogus ploy for money and possibly phishing personal information.

The flyers carried a counterfeit City College “approved for posting” stamp that all legitimate posts on campus billboards in hallways and stairwells must carry. Only the Associate Dean of Student Activities Office can provide the approval stamp and in this case no permission was requested for the posting.  

“I think I have seen them in the classrooms but they are mostly outside of the classrooms,” City College student Brianne Levine said, a psychology major. “I think it was kind of sketchy…it seemed kind of gimmicky.”

Deceitful Flyers

The advertised jobs required a $40 application fee and a submission of an online application requesting personal information. Upon further investigation, police believed the scammers’ primary objective was profiting from each student’s application fee, and they determined that the website could not be traced to any legitimate business.


 

“The CCSF police department has been investigating to determine the source or individual(s) responsible for posting the flyers.”

-Statement released by CCSF campus police


Campus police officer and media spokesperson Tiffany Green said the flyers were a scam and students should be aware not to provide any personal information online. The flyers came to the attention of campus police two weeks ago, which they investigated.

The CCSF police department has been investigating to determine the source or individual(s) responsible for posting the flyers,” a statement released by campus police said. “Additionally, the police department removed the flyers at the beginning of the semester, but they were being re-posted.”

Green said such phony flyers are an anomaly at City College. Previous unapproved postings typically advertise rooms for rent, internship positions and for student jobs.

“I don’t remember the people but all I know is that when I walked by there, people were passing out (these) flyers,” said Hannah Choi, a City College student also majoring in psychology. “I take them and then I just throw them away because I feel rude if I don’t take them.”

Online Work Opportunities

The flyer advertised for workers willing to simply fill out online forms and for email administration work—good computer and language skills were not required. All work could be done from anywhere with an Internet connection at the student’s convenience.

The flyer also emphasized that no experience was required. So far, City College students appear to be the only known target as San Francisco State University’s campus police had no report of similar incidents on their campus.

The Student Activities Office is responsible for all campus billboards and allows no more than 20 flyers to be posted for off-campus student activities. The office removes all postings at the end of each semester, but they do not periodically check designated bulletin boards for approved material nor remove items that have expired before a semester‘s end.

Campus police ask anyone who sees these flyers to not contact the listed website, to please remove flyers immediately if seen around campus, and to notify City College Campus Police of the postings at 415-239-3200.


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