{ "id": "2026-09-14-indiana-university-bloomington-extortion-fraud-crime-notice", "slug": "indiana-university-bloomington-extortion-fraud-crime-notice-2026-09-14", "institution": { "name": "Indiana University Bloomington", "shortName": "IU Bloomington", "state": "IN", "type": "public-r1", "alertSystemName": "IU Crime Notice", "enrollment": 47000 }, "incident": { "date": "2026-09-14", "type": "extortion", "cleryCategory": "timely-warning", "resolution": "under-investigation", "headline": "Crime notice for reported extortion and fraud", "headlinePublic": "Crime notice for reported extortion and fraud", "summary": "IUPD Bloomington [issued a Clery crime notice for one fraud and three extortion reports](https://protect.iu.edu/iu-police-department/campus-security-reports/crime-notices/notice/crime-notice-reported-other-2026-09-13-39.html).", "outcome": "Four reports: a fraudulent job-offer check plus three sextortion threats after social-media contact. Investigation ongoing." }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "SUBJECT: CRIME NOTICE - REPORTED OTHER\n\nCRIME NOTICE - REPORTED EXTORTION AND FRAUD\nIU Bloomington Crime Notice:\nSeptember 14, 2026\n\nIn compliance with the federal Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, a crime notice is being issued for reported extortion and fraud.\n\nREPORTED OFFENSE:\n\nOn the respective dates below, the Indiana University Police Department received four separate reports, one fraud and three extortion incidents. One reporting party stated they received an email for a fraudulent job offer where the suspect provided a fictitious check and requested the funds be sent back via Cash App. The three other reporting parties stated after meeting on social media, the suspect threatened to distribute intimate images of the reporting parties.\n\nTIME AND LOCATION OF OFFENSE:\n\nTwo of these incidents were reported to the IUPD on September 1, and the incidents occurred earlier that same day. One incident was reported to the IUPD on September 10, with an occurrence date of September 3. The most recent incident was reported to the IUPD on September 13, and the incident occurred earlier that same day. All four cases occurred online with the fraud case being via email and the three extortion cases occurring on three different social media platforms.\n\nSUSPECT:\n\nSuspects are currently unknown as each incident occurred online and over social media.\n\nAnyone with information on this crime or any other crime is encouraged to call the IU Police Department - Bloomington at 812-855-4111.\n\nYou may also call Crime Stoppers at 1-317-262-TIPS (8477).\n\nSAFETY TIPS:\n\nIn an effort to keep yourself and others safe, please consider the following:\n\n- College students are often targeted for these types of incidents of extortion and fraud. Always question anyone asking you to send them money and consult law enforcement if you're unsure of the source.\n\n- Fraudulent job postings usually advertise a “work from home” arrangement where the “employee” never meets the “employer.” Victims of this type of crime respond to an online posting or will be contacted about a job they never applied for. They often will be asked to complete a variety of tasks that will take them a small number of hours per week. They are then provided with an image of a check to deposit that is supposed to cover their pay and costs. They are then asked to send a portion of the funds to someone else, usually using an online money transfer app such as Cash App or Venmo, or a gift card.\n\n- Sextortion typically involves someone contacting a victim through a social media app or site. Contact then moves to private messaging, where a request for nude photos or videos of sex acts is made. The perpetrator then makes demand for payment and threatens to share the photo(s) or video(s) with the victim’s friends or family if they do not pay.\n\n- Avoid sending personal information to others online and on social media including intimate or pornographic images, credit card, and bank account information.\n\n- With the rise of artificial intelligence, remain vigilant about who pictures are being shared with as even non-intimate photos can be turned into pornographic content.\n\nSTAY INFORMED:\n\nTo receive the most up-to-date information during an emergency, be sure your contact information is current in IU Notify.\n\nSAFETY RESOURCES:\n\nDownload the Rave Guardian Safety app to access free personal safety resources. Additional safety tips can be found on protect.iu.edu.\n\nCLERY ACT:\n\nMore information can be found at Jeanne Clery Act at IU.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "confidence": "high", "sourceUrl": "https://protect.iu.edu/iu-police-department/campus-security-reports/crime-notices/notice/crime-notice-reported-other-2026-09-13-39.html", "sourceDescription": "IU Bloomington Crime Notice reported other 2026-09-13-39", "annotations": [ "Dual-fetch COMPLETE MATCH as packaged. En dash in IU Police Department - Bloomington contact line normalized to hyphen. sha256 9aa92ee708becbf9abb59b609f02988e98e5e1a197b1687b89ab3192a3cd296c chars=3508.", "Distinct incident from 2026-09-20-indiana-university-bloomington-boil-water-advisory: different hazard and date.", "Distinct incident from 2026-09-06-indiana-university-kirkwood-grant-shooting: different campus product and crime type." ], "characterCount": 3508 } ], "context": "IU Police posted the notice at [protect.iu.edu crime-notice-reported-other-2026-09-13-39](https://protect.iu.edu/iu-police-department/campus-security-reports/crime-notices/notice/crime-notice-reported-other-2026-09-13-39.html).", "keyFindings": [ "Clery crime notice covering one fraud and three extortion reports received around September 1-13, 2026." ], "sources": [ { "title": "IU Bloomington Crime Notice reported other 2026-09-13-39", "url": "https://protect.iu.edu/iu-police-department/campus-security-reports/crime-notices/notice/crime-notice-reported-other-2026-09-13-39.html", "type": "official-archive", "accessDate": "2026-09-21", "archiveUrl": null, "archiveNotes": "SPN not attempted after 500 flap at 07:36Z" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "public-r1", "indiana", "iu", "extortion", "fraud", "timely-warning", "fresh-week" ], "dateAdded": "2026-09-21", "lastUpdated": "2026-09-21", "addedBy": "ingestion" }