School Officials: Beware of Scams Targeting Students
May 14, 2015
Recently, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) became aware that scammers are targeting international students in the Chicago area in an attempt to solicit funds on behalf of the I-901 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Fee.
Scammers are requesting those targeted to send up to $4,000 to avoid deportation. The scammers are using the ‘Location Services’ app on students’ cellular devices to find the students’ location and threaten them with continued pursuit if they do not receive the money. The incidents are currently under investigation by the Chicago Police Department. SEVP intends to cooperate fully and will provide additional information as it becomes available.
Reminders for Your Students
To help protect students from such scams, please remind them of these critical messages:
- SEVP does not call students and request any type of payment or personal information. Therefore, they should disregard any phone calls from a person attempting to collect an I-901SEVIS Fee or any fee on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or SEVP.
- If a student receives such a phone call, advise them to hang up immediately and call the local Police Department, then report it to you or another designated school official at your institution.
- Remind the student to not give the caller any personal information, attempt to transfer funds to the scammer, or release any financial or banking information.
- The I-901 SEVIS Fee is $200 at most. The only time the requested I-901 SEVIS Fee will be more is if a student has a returned check. The additional amount would be limited to small, related service charges for bank processing — the total amount owed to SEVP will never amount to $4,000.
If you receive any incident reports or information that aids in this investigation, please report this to the SEVP Response Center immediately by calling 703-603-3400 between the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET or emailing SEVP@ice.dhs.gov.
Please share this information with your fellow DSOs and students on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to help all program participants #avoidscams.