MTSU Students Report Receipt of Fraudulent Checks

Two MTSU students reported nearly becoming victims of check fraud schemes within three days of each other earlier this month.

On Tuesday, February 3, a 19-year-old female student told University police that she had received an email in reference to a job with Aramark, the food company that services the MTSU, several weeks earlier. According to the email, she would receive a check in the mail, and was instructed to deposit it into her bank account, then send the money to an address in Beijing.

According to the police report, the woman went to a Western Union location in the Kroger on Middle Tennessee Boulevard on the evening of the 2nd to send the money. The Kroger staff told her they believed she was being scammed and could not follow through with her request.

On Friday, February 6, another 19-year-old female student told police that she had been receiving “odd” emails.

The student had reportedly been using the website Care.com to search for babysitting jobs, when messages came from someone claiming to be a pastor in need of a babysitter.

The “pastor” said that if he sent the woman a check for half of the first week of babysitting and some additional cash, she could send the other money to the address of someone who would pay for the apartment he and his family would be renting while staying in Murfreesboro.

On the sixth, she received a check at the MTSU Post Office for nearly $2,000. The name on the check did not match that of the person she had been exchanging emails with. She called the number in the top corner of the check, but the number was not in service.

On Wednesday, February 11, a Public Service Announcement was sent to student emails warning students about the scams.

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To contact news editor Max Smith, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com