US Students Targeted by Financial Aid, ICE Scams

Reports indicate an increase in sophisticated scams targeting students in the United States, ranging from financial aid fraud to impersonation schemes. In one recent case, scammers used artificial intelligence and online enrollment tools to create fake students and steal real identities to fraudulently obtain federal student aid, prompting the U.S. Education Department to require government-issued IDs for first-time aid applicants and to implement advanced screening. Separately, Shreya Bedi, an Indian master's student at Indiana University, was tricked by callers posing as federal immigration officials into purchasing $5,000 in gift cards under threats of arrest and deportation. The impersonators made the scam credible by using spoofed phone numbers, official-sounding credentials, and detailed personal information, and kept Bedi on the phone for hours. Bedi has since warned other international students to be vigilant and verify suspicious communications. These incidents underscore the growing vulnerability of students to both technologically sophisticated and psychological scams.