Scam LinkedIn account impersonated U of Iowa president

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A LinkedIn account that impersonated University of Iowa’s president and privately asked people for money and financial information has been shut down.

University spokeswoman Jeneane Beck says the account purporting to belong to UI President Bruce Harreld was a scam. She says the school was alerted to it Sunday and worked to have it removed.

By then, the fake account had more than two dozen connections, including John Batchelor, who recently earned an Iowa State University graduate degree.

The Harreld impersonator sent Batchelor greetings through private message, then said he was very busy and asked Batchelor to do him a favor and send him $500 in iTunes gift cards for his nephew’s birthday.

The scammer asked Batchelor to send his bank account information so that he could pay him back Monday.

Beck says the university isn’t aware of anyone actually falling for the scam.