Purdue police warn of scam seeking tutoring services

The Purdue University Police Department is alerting faculty, graduate students and any prospective tutors of a scam involving their services and large amounts of money.

Purdue police Capt. Eric Chin says the scam involves an email sent to prospective tutors from a parent seeking tutoring services for their child. The scammer agrees to pay figures such as $100 an hour and offer a payment up front of $1,000, indicating they will send a check of more than the agreed upon amount. The person requesting tutoring will then send a bad check for somewhere around $3,900, or just short of $4,000, asking the recipient to cash the check and immediately send them back the overage, often to a third party. The object is to get money sent to the scammer before the bank can discover that the check is bad.

Anyone receiving such an email is asked to contact the Purdue University Police Department at 49-48221.