Instances of fraud on campus increased by nine cases in 2007, according to the ISU Police crime log.

Fraud crimes are broken down into five categories: false pretenses, forgery, credit card/ATM fraud, impersonation and wire fraud. ISU Police does not keep specific records on computer fraud, which is considered a false pretenses crime.

There were 17 cases of false pretenses, or scams involving money stolen by trickery, reported in 2007. There were only four cases of credit card fraud reported in 2007, down two cases from 2006.

ISU Police Lt. Aaron DeLashmutt said computer-related cases of fraud are happening more often these days.

“Scams are usually done online and in stores,” he said. “We are seeing more e-mail scams going on, though.”

DeLashmutt said other forms of criminal false pretense he had seen over the years involved students being contacted online because they were selling a book or holding a room for a potential roommate. The scam starts when the criminal sends a false money order to the seller for well more than the asking price of an item or a room, with instructions to take out “the price of the textbook [or room], plus a couple hundred for their troubles.”

The scam artist wants what is left after the victim cashes the money order at the bank, at which time the victim sends the remainder to the scam artist. The bank finds out days later the money order is a fake and charges the victim’s account.

“It’s always one of those things that are too good to be true,” DeLashmutt said.

In the case of a student being caught in the act of committing fraud, he or she would be put through the criminal system and the student judicial system as well. Depending on the seriousness of the crime, the student may have to pay a restitution fee or serve jail time, DeLashmutt said.

Methods to protect your valuables, DeLashmutt said, are as simple as locking personal belongings when working out or being careful with bank or credit card statements.

“People will do anything to get your information,” he said.

ISU Dining and C-Stores have also seen instances of ISUCard fraud as well, said Joe Franzen, manager of the Bookends Cafe in Parks Library. Bookends Cafe is no longer accepting manually inputted or verbally spoken ISUCard numbers because of the possibility of students stealing or memorizing another student’s number and using their Dining Dollars, he said, though it hasn’t happened at Bookends Cafe.

“There has been several instances in the past where people were using other people’s numbers at C-Stores in the UDCC,” Franzen said. “It happened enough for a policy change. It’s pretty much stopped it.”

Randell Phillips, employee at West Side Market and junior in industrial technology, said he saw ISUCard fraud occur most frequently during high-traffic times, when students use friend’s cards and said some employees don’t look at the photo on the card to verify accuracy, he said.

Digital fraud has grown nationwide, said Steffen Schimdt, university professor of political science, with more types and ranges than ever before.

“What we’ve discovered in the past two years is that identity fraud is changing in nature, how it’s done and scope,” Schmidt said. “[Unfortunately] people are trusting and naive.”

Schmidt said a lot of fraud happens not between strangers over the Internet, but between roommates and family members. He said fraud generally occurs because people are “sloppy” with their personal information.

E-mail fraud, either by “spoofing” a Web site or by “phishing” for people’s Social Security or credit card numbers, are the most common types of fraud, he said.

The best defense, Schmidt said, is to delete unfamiliar e-mails and don’t respond to unfamiliar bank or credit card e-mails.

“If you get an e-mail you don’t recognize, delete it,” he said.

Wireless Internet devices and passports are also at risk for interception of personal information as well, he said.

“But for students who are more personally connected to the Internet – through their computers, iPhone, smartphones devices – fraud is a serious problem,” Schmidt said. “There has been very heavy exploration into stealing and trafficking personal information.”