Scam Information

Scam Information for International Students

In addition to the information on this page, please also review our page with updates and resources related to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 situation:

Coronavirus scam information

It is important to protect yourself from people who might try to scam you for money or steal your identity. Beware of callers who identify themselves as employees of a US government agency. Their strategies might include:

Altering their caller identification to make it appear that the call is coming from a federal agency
Demanding that you provide or verify personally identifiable information; for example, the last four numbers of your social security number (SSN)
Telling you that you are a victim of identity theft
Demanding payment in the form of gift cards or electronic funds transfer
Threatening that authorities are coming to arrest or deport you

US federal agencies will NEVER demand information or money from you or threaten you over the phone. Hang up immediately!

If you are not sure if a call is from someone trying to steal your money, call the Norman Police (405) 321-1600 or call OU Police (405) 325-1911. You should also report the incident to ISS by emailing iss@ou.edu.

Reporting a SCam

Always report these calls to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov/.

Please also make a report to the government agency that the caller is impersonating by using the links below.

Social Security Administration (SSA) at https://oig.ssa.gov/scams-involving-impersonation-ssa-employee
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at https://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams/report-scams