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BU students warned not to cash checks for strangers at ATMs
By adamg on Thu, 03/30/2017 - 9:30am
The Daily Free Press reports several students have been hit by a scam in which a stranger comes up to them at an ATM on Comm. Ave. and asks them to deposit a check, withdraw some money and keep the rest of the check. Don't do that, BU Police is warning students.
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Comments
They can't be too bright if
They can't be too bright if they fall for this.
How are these students even
How are these students even getting accepted into BU in the first place? Not very bright I'm afraid...
Book smarts and street smarts
Book smarts and street smarts are two completely different things. When you combine sympathy with others with a lack of knowledge of the financial system, by under 25 kids making quick decisions, shit like this will happen.
Most of these victims are foreign too.
They don't always understand how our American criminals work.
Which is funny because this
Which is funny because this scam has mostly been done by foreigners on Americans.
Oh?
Every time this scam has been tried on me it's been an American, normally white, sometimes a woman, who presentable and has clearly practiced their sob story. A pro.
I've never personally seen this scam by a foreigner.
Over the phone yes, on the street not usually.
bt
A lot of kids
Come to college from suburban or rural environments where this stuff just doesn't happen. My very smart husband, for example, never had a house key until his freshman dorm room because he lived in Vermont and his parents hadn't locked the front door in 10 years.
He had stuff stolen a few times in Boston before he realized locks existed for a reason.
Perhaps that needs to be a question on the SATs
If a stranger approaches you and asks you to withdraw money from an ATM in exchange for a check, what should you do?
You mean that WASN'T the wallet inspector?!?
Didn't this just happen?
Didn't this exact same thing happen a year or so ago with college students? Maybe it was BU, maybe MIT. I don't remember but it was reported here. How do these students, the hope of our future, keep falling for this? What sheltered cove do they come from? And, at the risk of getting on a soapbox, colleges are not helping these days by coddling students, providing "safe spaces" , making sure their feelings aren't hurt, and in every way acting in loco parentis rather than challenging them, opening their minds and preparing them for the real world.
"What sheltered cove do they come from?"
When you're done with that soapbox, perhaps it would help you to realize that many people fall for the check-cashing/Western Union scam, and most of them aren't young college students. In fact, older folks are a favorite target of scammers. It is a persistent scam because it is successful.
Exactly
The con artists are good actors and people fall for the sob story, particularly if they think they'll make a little $ at the same time.
College Freshmen (any college) are particularly native. Not just BU.
BU became aware that the scam was active
and sent out a warning to its students about it. Doesn't sound to me like they're not helping their students to avoid falling for this in the future.
What exactly does "coddling
What exactly does "coddling students, providing 'safe spaces', making sure their feelings aren't hurt, and in every way acting in loco parentis" mean?
Please provide specific examples, and explain how it makes students more vulnerable to being swindled on the street.
Classic confidence game
If the girl/guy doing the asking is convincing and appears "normal", I could see students falling for this. Most people are genuinely nice and want to help, which is what the con artist takes full advantage of.
Bank of Nigeria?
You say there isn't a branch around here? Golly, sure I'll help!