International students are targets, and sometimes victims, of phone and email scams. Criminals have been calling and/or emailing students pretending to be from their home country consulate (or embassy), from U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, or from U.S. government agencies such as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), or the Michigan Department of Treasury.
These calls/emails often ask for you to send them money and/or personal information (bank account, credit card, and social security numbers). If you receive a call/email like this, do not send money to them or give out your personal information. If you are unsure about what to do, contact the Division of Public Safety & Security (734-763-1131; [email protected]).
For more details about scam (fake) Consulate/IRS/FBI/USCIS phone calls, see this announcement. Additional information is on the ITS website.
Lastly, the University of California, Davis prepared a video about common scams that we encourage you to watch. Some of the information is specific to UC-Davis, but some of it would apply to scams here at U-M, too.