Students Targeted By Scam: What Sayreville Families Need To Know

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SAYREVILLE, NJ — Students returning to school are being targeted by an online scam designed to trick them into handing over passwords, banking information and other sensitive personal information, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Prosecutor’s Office issued the fraud warning Sept. 22 after becoming aware of a scam involving look-alike apps and phony malware warnings.

The Prosecutor’s Office did not identify any specific Sayreville victims. The warning, however, is relevant to students and families throughout Middlesex County, including Sayreville.

How The Scam Works

The scheme begins with scammers creating apps designed to look like legitimate ones.

After a student downloads one of the apps, a pop-up appears claiming the device has been infected with malware. The notification provides a phone number and tells the student to call so the device can be scanned.

The scammer then directs the student to another number purportedly for “Customer Support.” The person answering that call asks for passwords and online banking information, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Providing personal or financial information could allow scammers to compromise accounts and cause financial losses.

What Sayreville Students And Families Should Do

If an app generates a warning claiming that a device has a virus, students should turn off the device and disable its internet access.

They should not call any phone number provided in the pop-up. Instead, the Prosecutor’s Office recommends contacting school IT staff.

Other precautions include:

• Carefully checking download links before installing apps or app extensions. Fraudulent links can be created to resemble legitimate apps.
• Never providing a name, banking information, Social Security number, copies of government-issued identification or other personal information to a suspicious caller.
• Ending the call if someone begins asking for sensitive information.
• Blocking suspicious phone numbers and reporting questionable text messages as junk or spam.
• Contacting campus security, an IT department and local police if personal information has already been provided.

The Prosecutor’s Office also warned that Apple Support will not ask for personal identifying information, social media passwords or online banking information.

What To Do If You Think You’ve Been Scammed

Anyone who believes they are being victimized should call the non-emergency number for their local police department or, where applicable, campus security.

Scams can also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.

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