Friday, January 27, 2023, 10:30am
TO: Sonoma State Campus Community
FR: Nader Oweis, Chief of Police
Exchange Bank has alerted the Sonoma State Police Department that at least two Sonoma State students have been victims of a scam. The scammers are reaching out to students, possibly through email or phone, and impersonating themselves as members of the "Sonoma State Employment" department, which does not exist.
The scammers attempt to "employ" the students to test Bitcoin machines in the area. The scam is carried out in the following manner:
- Fraudulent checks are sent to the students to be deposited in their personal accounts.
- After the checks are deposited, they are instructed to withdraw the funds and take the cash to specific Bitcoin machines.
- Students are then required to send a receipt of the transaction to the scammers, which provides the scammers access to the accounts.
If you are a victim of these scammers with financial loss, you are encouraged to file a report by calling the Sonoma State Police Department Non-Emergency line at (707) 664-4444.