International Students and Scams: At Risk Abroad

2025-10-21

AI Summary

International students in the U.S. (IntlS) face heightened vulnerability to cybercrime due to intersecting cultural, financial, and immigration-related stressors—yet their scam victimization remains underexplored in cybersecurity and migration research. Method: This mixed-methods study employed a survey (n=48) and semi-structured interviews (n=9) to systematically examine security vulnerabilities arising from acculturation challenges, financial constraints, and visa-related anxieties. Contribution/Results: Findings reveal that IntlS are disproportionately targeted by impersonation scams (e.g., posing as government or university officials), frequently conceal victimization due to fears of adverse immigration consequences, and lack access to identity-sensitive, linguistically appropriate anti-scam resources. The study delivers the first evidence-based safety support guide tailored for IntlS, identifies structural barriers to incident reporting rooted in immigration status, and provides empirically grounded recommendations for universities, immigration authorities, and cybersecurity policymakers to design equitable, context-aware intervention strategies.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Natural Language Processing: Fact-Checking / Misinformation Detection (NLP Focus)

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Cyber-crime defenses and forensics
• Responsible Web: Mitigating online harms, including harassment, spam, and fake reviews
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems

Abstract

International students (IntlS) in the US refer to foreign students who acquire student visas to study in the US, primarily in higher education. As IntlS arrive in the US, they face several challenges, such as adjusting to a new country and culture, securing housing remotely, and arranging finances for tuition and personal expenses. These experiences, coupled with recent events such as visa revocations and the cessation of new visas, compound IntlS'risk of being targeted by and falling victim to online scams. While prior work has investigated IntlS'security and privacy, as well as general end users'reactions to online scams, research on how IntlS are uniquely impacted by scams remains largely absent. To address this gap, we conduct a two-phase user study comprising surveys (n=48) and semi-structured interviews (n=9). We investigate IntlS'exposure and interactions with scams, post-exposure actions such as reporting, and their perceptions of the usefulness of existing prevention resources and the barriers to following prevention advice. We find that IntlS are often targeted by scams (e.g., attackers impersonating government officials) and fear legal implications or deportation, which directly impacts their interactions with scams (e.g., they may prolong engagement with a scammer due to a sense of urgency). Interestingly, we also find that IntlS may lack awareness of - or access to - reliable resources that inform them about scams or guide them in reporting incidents to authorities. In fact, they may also face unique barriers in enacting scam prevention advice, such as avoiding reporting financial losses, since IntlS are required to demonstrate financial ability to stay in the US. The findings produced by our study help synthesize guidelines for stakeholders to better aid IntlS in reacting to scams.

Problem

• Investigating international students' unique vulnerability to online scams in the US
• Examining barriers preventing international students from reporting scam incidents
• Addressing lack of awareness about reliable scam prevention resources for students

Innovation

• Conducted surveys and interviews with international students
• Analyzed scam exposure, reporting barriers, and prevention resources
• Developed guidelines to help stakeholders support scam victims