During this time of the year, college students are preparing for the upcoming semester and purchasing required items such as textbooks, laptops, meal plans and budgeting for other living expenses.
The National Retail Federation expects total spending for back-to-college goods to reach a record $74 billion in 2022, with an average of almost $1,200 per household. Households with college-aged and K-12 children may spend upwards of $2,000 on back-to-school items this year. To help offset the cost of attending college and for their own spending, many young adults seek employment near their college which can have disastrous results if the employer turns out to be fraudulent. In addition to this risk, increased inflation has led to more consumers comparatively shopping online for their back-to-school items, providing an opportunity for scammers to advertise high-demand products at low prices that are never delivered.
According to BBB’s 2021 Scam Tracker Risk Report, adults ages 18-24 reported a median loss of $170 to scams and students were found to be more vulnerable when exposed to a scam, with slightly over half (51.5%) of students reporting monetary loss as compared to non-students (42%). Employment scams were identified as the second riskiest scam impacting Scam Tracker victims between 18-24 years old, many of which emphasize flexible hours or remote working opportunities. College and university students in Texas have reported nearly $100,000 lost to scams this year,…
