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Tuition Scam Preys On UW International Students' Trust

David Nogueras
/
knkx

Chinese international students at the University of Washington who were victims of fraud are being given more time to pay tuition. They paid cash to a third party who promised to pay their tuition with a credit card and get them a discount. It was bogus scheme.

The scam seems to have spread on a social media app widely used by Chinese international students. They forge connections with each other online, which is one reason they believed an offer advertising a small price break on tuition.

Roy Lirio, the UW’s director of student fiscal services says the set up preyed on the students’ vulnerability.

“Putting myself as an international student who is here for the first time, the people I’m going to lean on are the people I trust. And if the people that I trusted — it only takes one — if they’re saying, ‘This is a bargain,’ I can see it happening,” said Lirio.

Lirio says in countries like China, transactions are often done in cash. That may be why the deal didn’t seem unusual.

The UW offers workshops for international students to learn about American banking systems in the hopes it will help them avoid scams like this one.  

Students are also being reminded never to share personal account or password information.