We received a report that recently a SFHS student was targeted for money on her Instagram account.  It was a very well done scam, and clearly preyed upon our students’ trust. This scam was perfectly targeted — trusting, helpful students and the illusion of the person being known by trusted people. The student didn’t flinch at giving them access to her picture (“…because they were ‘friends’ with people I knew,” and “because I thought I was helping them out.”) While your student might say this wouldn’t happen to me, believe me it could and it does.

The student was sent a “follow request” on Instagram by an account that appeared to follow/be followed by twenty or more other SFHS students, including many of her friends. (The scam account name, “avery porter,” has since closed, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening under another name with another student) They reached out to the student, asking to use her likeness for an art project, they’d pay her via check, but they’d need to write it for more than the amount promised – she’d need to send them the extra funds. Of course, the checks they asked her to deposit into the bank account bounced, and they began harassing her to send them money via Zelle anyhow. The entire incident took only 72 hours. 

The family has filed fraud reports with the bank, set up fraud alerts on her account, and reported it to Instagram. 

Remember to talk to your student about how important it is to look at the quantity of accounts you are following/followed by on Instagram. There should be a capped number of accounts and they should only be part of their inner circle, no “friends of friends, etc.  Nothing good ever happens from just having numbers of “followers” they don’t know.  

It’s a good time to remind them, if it seems odd or unusual, involve an adult to help you figure out if something is legitimate. However, there are no circumstances where money is being requested especially in these circumstances that would be legitimate. Encourage your student to “Be aware, stop before you engage and never send money to a person/person’s you don’t know in real life”.