Monica Eaton’s Latest Guest Feature for Forbes
eCommerce isn’t the only front facing a growing threat from fraudsters. As Chargebacks911 COO Monica Eaton explains in a new guest feature for Forbes, more and more college students are falling victim to nefarious financial aid scams.
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As Monica says, fraudsters see student financial aid as a largely unprotected, soft target. “Cybercrime specialists at the FBI noted one specific campaign that stole tens of thousands of dollars from students back in 2018,” she explains. “Since then, they’ve reported on multiple other campaigns targeting universities and student bodies all over the country.”
The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated matters, as students may be unable to visit financial aid offices in person. This created even more opportunities to fraudsters to engage in spear phishing schemes.
Schools need to set clear communication guidelines to protect students from abuse. In addition, there should be a substantial effort put into student education on the topic of fraud prevention. Otherwise, this problem will continue to get worse with each passing semester.
