department of

public safety

The Oklahoma State University Police Department is investigating reports of a scam involving the offer of a job as a research assistant for $400 per week. The suspect has phished the email of an OSU professor and is using it to reach out students. 

The OSUPD investigates scams each year. Some come from an OSU email address or one very similar. It might provide details for an internship, the hours required and amount of pay. The email requests typically ask the individual reply with personal information including a non-OSU email, cellphone and address. 

The scammer then emails a check or checks to the student, has them deposit the check into their account, keep a portion for themselves for their time and first paycheck and send a portion of the money via a money app or another means to a third party who will be involved with their “internship” or job as a “research assistant.” The checks emailed to the students bounce, and the student loses the money they sent from their account to the third party. 

Things to remember: 

• Anyone hired as a student employee would be required to fill out new hire paperwork with
• Human Resources before they can be paid.
• OSU does not email checks. 
• OSU and its employees would not ask a student to send money to a different individual.
• Beware of anyone who asks for your personal information. 
• If you receive an offer that seems too good to be true or raises questions, call the university or OSUPD and ask. 
• A separate scam where a caller claims to be an OSU police officer has occurred in years past. In this scam, the victim is told there is a warrant out for their arrest, and they must send money or gift cards to cover the warrant. 

The OSU Police Department never demands money or asks a student to verify or provide personal information such as usernames and passwords. The OSUPD would also not as a student to send inappropriate photos. 

If you receive a call that appears to be from the OSUPD but you believe the call is fraudulent, hang up and call the OSUPD at 405-744-6523. If the call is fraudulent, file a report. Also file a complaint with the FCC Consumer Complaint Center by selecting the "phone" option and selecting "unwanted calls." The information helps the FCC track trends and supports enforcement investigations.