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Scam Warmings for International Students

Recently we have been receiving reports of scam that are targeting international students. We are sharing various commonly reported scams targeting our Asian international students, hoping to get your attention and prevent you from being scammed. 

Scam #1: Phone Calls to Inform Illegal Activities under Your Name

The caller pretends to be from the police station/Border & Customs/post office from the student’s home country, especially China, claiming that they received illegal documents or items under the student’s name, therefore, proving the student had committed illegal acts. The caller then transfers the calls from one pretended authority to another, not allowing the student time to think or verify. These calls always involve demanding the student to pay a bail, to provide ID or bank account information, or to install Skype for further control of students’ daily life. The caller(s) also demands the student to keep everything confidential, meaning not to share anything with their friends, school, or parents; Otherwise, they threaten to deport the student from the U.S. 

In these situations, hang up the phone and call UWPD at 206-685-8973. Do not share any personal information with the caller. Based on our knowledge, the callers or scammers are most likely not in the U.S., so they won’t be able to harm your safety as they claimed to. 

Scam #2: Text Messages asking for payment or clicking a link

Fake text messages from delivery companies, post office, bank, etc., asking you to click on a link, so you can provide your credit information to pay for unpaid delivery fees, bank fees, etc. 

In these cases, do NOT click any links to avoid malwares being installed on your phone. You can simply block the sender. 

Scam #3: Emails or calls from official government agency demanding payment 

Students also often receive official-looking emails (e.g. from uwit@uw.edu) or phone calls that display as an official government agency, such as the IRS or China Consulate at San Francisco. These emails or phone calls typically lead to pressuring the student to pay money or threatening to deport the student if they don’t pay. 

In this case, don’t answer the call and block the sender. Keep in mind, any official agencies, like universities, the police, embassies/consulates, the IRS, or Immigration agencies, will NOT call you directly to discuss official business or require payments. In the U.S., emails and postal mails are the most common forms of official communication.

Scam #4: Emails offering remote jobs with a nice salary

Students receive job offers via email that allow them to work remotely and earn a very nice salary. Here is a unique case: On UW Handshake, the scammer created a fake profile for a department dean and offered the student a job to work at the Dean’s office. Then the student was asked to purchase some office supplies or gift cards, being promised to get reimbursed later. 

New case: (added on 11/27/2023)

Recently, there have been frequent calls to students’ mobile phones with the caller number showing as 8696110, pretending to be China’s National Anti-Scam Center. The caller informs the student that they have been involved in major criminal cases such as money laundering due to theft of identity information and using forged official documents, seals, etc. Once gained victim’s trust, the scammer then tricks the victim into transferring money in the name of ensuring the safety of funds. Please be vigilant.  Such calls should not be answered and you should block the sender right away. A helpful tip: All hotline numbers are for the public to call in. Officials will never use the hotline number to make calls.

In these situations, report the scam to UWPD at 206-685-8973 or UWIT at help@uw.edu

If you got scammed, you can always call UWPD. If you are unsure about a scam, you can always ask CIRCLE in RCG group chats, email us at uwcirle@uw.edu or call UWPD. One simple action can help you avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble. 

Important message regarding UW’s vaccination requirement

The below message was sent as an email from CIRCLE to international students at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.

Dear Huskies,

Today is the deadline by which all University of Washington students are required to upload proof of vaccination to avoid a registration hold on their Winter 2022 registration. Some students have been confused on whether or not they have completed this requirement. We are sending this message to encourage you to check your MyUW to ensure you do not have a registration hold.

When you check the notices section in MyUW, if you see something like the notice below (Critical: UW Student COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement), that means you have a registration block. It is VERY important that you take the necessary steps to have the hold removed. If you do not act right away, you will not be able to register for classes. If you don’t see the notice below, thank you for completing the vaccination requirement.

To have the hold removed if you’re already vaccinated, please complete the verification requirement by uploading a picture of your vaccination card. It is ok if the vaccination card is in a language other than English.

If you are not vaccinated and wish to submit a request for a medical or religious exemption, you must download the appropriate exemption form. Once you complete the form, you can upload the request using the secure portal listed on the page where you downloaded the form.

Once you upload your proof of vaccination or request for a medical or religious exemption, the hold will come off shortly after. All documentation will be reviewed by Hall Health staff and you will be contacted via email if there are issues or questions about your documentation.

Please remember that students who submit false or inaccurate information as part of the vaccine verification process are subject to disciplinary procedures that can include dismissal from the University.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this process.

Thank you,
The UW CIRCLE Office

A portal to the world: How I had a global Husky Experience without leaving Seattle

by Joseph Yang

I entered the University of Washington, like most, as an in-state student. I hadn’t traveled much, all of my close friends were from my hometown, and the prospect of going to school 25 minutes away from my parents’ house was, to be honest, a little bit underwhelming. I was envious of my friends who got to spend their next four years on the East coast, the same ones who studied abroad and posted pictures of the intangible “cultural experience” that always seemed just out of my reach. I figured that my desire to experience the world: trying new foods, learning about different traditions and geopolitical issues, participating in cultural festivities, would have to wait. Maybe after graduation I could land a job that allowed me to travel.

Three years later, I can’t help but scoff at the pessimism I carried with me during that first year. Having recently graduated, the vast majority of my friends are international students. They hail from places as distant as China, India, Brazil, Korea, and Japan, to name a few. Through my time with them, I’ve had home-cooked meals I’d never thought I’d try, learned about their native political and cultural issues, picked up bits and pieces of new languages, and recognized the unique challenges international students face on a day-to-day basis. And get this, I never traveled abroad!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that study abroad isn’t an eye-opening, transformative experience worth doing. What I’m trying to communicate, especially to in-state students like myself, is that attending the UW offers a wonderful opportunity to participate in cultural exchange even while being close to home; you just need to know how to get involved.

My cultural exchange journey started about two quarters into my first year at the UW. I hadn’t really made any friends. I tried joining a few clubs, but none of them really stuck. I was sad, lonely, and wanting more out of my college experience. So one day, when I saw a flyer for a program called Unite UW, advertising “life-long friendships” through a seven-week cultural exchange program, I took a leap of faith and signed up. The following quarter I arrived at my first Unite UW meeting. I was assigned to a small group with two students from India, one from Mongolia, one from Vietnam, and one from Washington.

Unite UW’s mission aimed to foster an atmosphere where international and domestic students could bond and exchange cultures. There would be weekly field trips and fun activities designed to bring us all closer together; emblematic of this was the “Once United, Never Divided” motto all the program facilitators seemed to incessantly repeat.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical of the program at first; the icebreakers were uncomfortable and I didn’t believe that I’d get close to these strangers over the course of a measly seven weeks. Nonetheless, all the facilitators who had done the program in the past seemed happy enough, attesting that I would have a great time if I went into the program with an open mind.

And that was the key: going into the program with an open mind. Throughout those seven weeks, I got to go on a camping retreat, explore downtown Seattle, see a tulip festival, have a bonfire at the beach, and eat delicious food from all over the world. But, more importantly, I learned about my groupmates’ upbringings, the similarities and differences between our cultures, what international students liked and disliked about the living in the US, and the shared experiences we had as students attending the UW. I left the program with deep friendships that suddenly expanded my worldview, and I craved more.

Following the program, I got as involved as I could in international student advocacy, support, and engagement. I became a Unite UW facilitator the following quarter, joined the International Student Mentorship Program, and applied for a job at UW CIRCLE, a department focused on supporting international student needs on campus.

For me, all these experiences have reinforced how special the University of Washington is. Students from all around the world travel to Seattle to study. There may be no better chance in life to interact with such a diverse crowd and to learn about the world through conversation and friendship. Yet, sometimes when I walk around campus, I can’t help but feel that students take this opportunity for granted.

International students and domestic students too often stick to their own groups. When I see this, I’m saddened by the missed opportunities to learn from one another and to connect with the larger world. Cultural exchange can be difficult; it’s hard to put yourself out there. It can be hard to interact with someone with an upbringing completely different than your own. But if you go in with an open mind, if you are willing to be vulnerable, if you truly want to better understand your place within this vast world, then cultural exchange is an invaluable experience, one that all students at the UW should strive for during their time here.


Joseph Yang is a UW alum (2021) who studied political science at the UW and served as the Communications Coordinator for UW CIRCLE. Joseph integrates his love for learning with his passion for advocacy through effective writing and communication.

UW mask distribution for International Huskies – May 2021

International Huskies, if you are in Seattle, you probably have seen other students wearing the Husky PACK Pledge masks. Earlier in the year, CIRCLE helped the UW distribute masks to students who were in Seattle either through an in-person distribution or by mailing to your home. Next week, we will help one last time to get these masks to UW international students. This is your opportunity to get your masks!

A few things about the spring 2021 distribution:

  • These masks are intended for students who were not in Seattle for the autumn 2020 or winter 2021 quarters. We were not able to mail the masks internationally.
  • We will only do in-person distribution between May 24th and May 26th. The in-person distribution will take place on the HUB Lawn.
  • We are unable to mail masks this time.

To sign up for a time slot please complete this very short survey. We are asking students to sign up for a time to pick up their masks to allow for physical distancing. The survey will ask you to log in using your NetID and will take 1 minute to complete.

If you have any questions about the mask distribution, please contact uwcircle@uw.edu. The survey will be open until May 23, 2021.

 

Complete the Survey

We must speak out against racism and anti-Asian hate

A message from the CIRCLE staff

The murders that took place on March 16th in Atlanta are a sad addition to the growing list of racist and xenophobic incidents that members of the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities have experienced in Seattle and the rest of the country. Our thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones and with the individuals who have been targets of these insidious events.

As a University, we must continue to speak out against hate, racism, and xenophobia to show that they have no place in our community. Sadly, if these incidents occur and are not reported, it makes it difficult for the UW to take action. If you witness a bias incident against a peer or a colleague, report it. The UW has a bias incident reporting tool that is confidential and anonymous. By speaking out and reporting incidents of bias, we can show that hate has no home here.

If you witness incidents of anti-Asian discrimination outside of the Seattle campus, the UW School of Social Work has created a list of ways to report the incident. This page also has resources available for bystander training and social commentary.

We echo President Cauce’s words that we must not let racism and anti-Asian hate threaten our community. As we wrap up winter quarter and start spring break, CIRCLE staff and UW resources will continue to be available if you want to reach out. Please remember to be safe and stay vigilant.

Scam Targeting International Students (Mar. 2021)

It has come to our attention that there is a new scam targeting international students. There have been TWO reports of UW students falling victims to this scam. We are sharing this information so that you can protect yourself. This is what we know:

  1. Students received a call from “U.S. Border & Customs” warning that they “found a package with drugs in it with the students’ name on it.” The cell numbers linked to this call are “206-209-6215” and”206-209-8147.”
  2. Soon after, same students received an additional follow up call from “U.S. Border & Customs,” who was a different voice stating that during “investigation,” sees your bank account is linked to past known drug deals/ers. The cell number linked to this account is “929-269-1517.”
  3. Both students were asked to withdraw $2,500.00, put on various dollar value gift cards, then gave all the codes to the caller. The cash is now gone and cannot be retrieved.

Please remember that ICE or any other government official will never call you and ask for money, money wires or gift cards for payment. Scammers tend to use official terms that will it seem that they are a government agency, which is why students believe them—this is not the case.
If you receive a call like this, please do the following:

  • Hang up immediately.
  • Report the call to the anonymous ICE tip line at 1-866-347-2423.
  • Report the call to the UW Police Department (UWPD) at their non-emergency line, (206) 685-UWPD (8973).
  • Reach out to the ISS Office if you want to confirm your student status or to ask any questions that you might have.

Please stay alert and be safe.

New Scam Targeting International Students (Nov. 2020)

It has come to our attention that there is a new scam targeting international students. There are no reports of UW students falling victims to this scam but we are sharing this information so that you can protect yourself. This is what we know:

  • The scammers are disguising their phone numbers as if it is a local ICE phone number (known as spoofing), so when someone receives a call, the number will show as “ICE” or “Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” These callers are not ICE officers
  • If the person answers the phone, the scammers will tell them that their status is in jeopardy and that they must pay money to fix it. This is not how you resolve status violations – if you are ever concerned about your status, contact ISS

Please remember that ICE or any other government official will never call you and ask for money. Scammers tend to use official terms that will make it seem that they are a government agency, which is why student believe them—this is not the case.

If you receive a call like this, please do the following:

  • Hang up immediately.
  • Report the call to the anonymous ICE tip line at 1-866-347-2423.
  • Report the call to the UW Police Department (UWPD) at their non-emergency line, (206) 685-UWPD (8973).
  • Reach out to the ISS Office if you want to confirm your student status or to ask any questions that you might have.

Please stay alert and be safe

A Message From CIRCLE’s Executive Director, Felipe Martinez

Dear International Husky,

Welcome to a new academic year! Whether you are a retuning student or this is the beginning of your Husky experience, we are excited to have you at the UW.

Even though the pandemic has changed the way we engage with each other in person and has prevented us from welcoming you to the UW community in person, it is important to remember that we are here for you. CIRCLE and the rest of the UW services continue to be accessible to you regardless of the distance between you and the Seattle campus.  

Building community and remaining connected to the UW is now more important than ever. Consider joining us during the many programs that we have created during the quarter. We have intentionally set times that are both accessible to students in Seattle and abroad. Together we will get through.   

If you have a quick question, drop by our CIRCLE chats or if you want to engage with UW Alumni consider joining our Global Leadership Series. Download the CIRCLE podcast to learn about University Resources or consider joining the Unite UW program to engage with other UW students in a quarter long cross cultural experience. However you want to engage, just remember to reach out.

GO HUSKIES

Mask distribution for International Huskies

A message from the CIRCLE office

Dear International Huskies,

As we prepare to welcome you back for a new academic year, we want to take this opportunity to first reiterate our commitment to you and your academic success. Despite being on remote operations, please remember that University services continue to be accessible to you whether you are in Seattle, back in your home country, or somewhere else in the world.

Even when this pandemic has disrupted our University environment, the Husky spirit continues on. To help us show our Husky pride, the University has made UW-branded masks available to all students. The masks are part of the HUSKY PACK Pledge, where we remind each other about the community responsibility we have to keep each other safe.

The HUSKY PACK masks will be mailed to all UW students who have a current U.S. mailing address. We know that the pandemic forced many students to reconsider their living arrangements, which may include living outside of the greater Seattle area. To ensure that these masks get to you, we ask that you complete this short survey to give us your mailing address for autumn quarter 2020. To protect your information, the survey will ask you to log in using your UW NetID and password.

If you are planning to remain in your home country for autumn 2020, we still encourage you to complete the survey. This way, we can ensure that we have a mask ready for you for when you arrive. The CIRCLE staff will follow up later in the year to make sure we have an updated U.S. mailing address.

Masks will be mailed to students who submit current U.S. mailing addresses the week of September 21st. If you are in the Seattle area and would prefer an in-person pickup, we will have some days for in-person distribution. You can tell us your preference via the survey, but please note that these in-person pickups will follow social distancing guidelines.

If you have any questions about this message or the HUSKY PLEDGE masks, feel free to email us at uwcircle@uw.edu. The survey will remain open until September 18, 2020.

We look forward to welcoming you for autumn 2020. Go Huskies!