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Three students have reported being scammed while trying to purchase tickets for USC’s home football game against Wisconsin.
According to an email sent out by the Department of Public Safety today, suspects impersonated students and used GroupMe to connect with their victims. In the process of negotiation, suspects exchanged screenshots of student identification cards with their victims.
“Students should bear in mind that a photo of a student ID card doesn’t authenticate an online suspect’s identity. And, they should not share a screenshot of their own student ID card in order to prevent future misuse,” according to the DPS email.
Suspects requested payment through Venmo or Apple Pay and delayed transferring the tickets, requesting additional money. After paying for the tickets, victims never received them.
Ahaan Aggarwal, a junior studying business of cinematic arts, encountered a scammer in the Trojan Boxing club GroupMe.
After negotiating a price, Aggarwal requested the major and email of the suspect. Aggarwal sent an email to the one he was provided and received an email from the actual student stating that they were not the person he had been messaging.
Aggarwal described his reasons for being cautious.
“I tapped into her [GroupMe] profile and it actually said ‘Baylor 2025,’ a completely different university. I was a little [suspicious] of that,” he said. “Being doubtful the whole time was helpful and just being very, very cautious. Try to think critically about whether this could be a scam.”
DPS reminded students to use a trusted source to purchase tickets, such as USC Athletics.