Security Information   ・ Notification of Important Information to Students Important information is notified to students on message board. Please be sure to check the message board every day. 　* Scholarships information is also posted on the homepage of the International Center. 　* Delayed application to a scholarship is NOT accepted in any condition. ・ Drinking Alcohol and Smoking In Japan, drinking alcohol and smoking are permitted only for people older than 20 years old. If you are under 20 years old and are found drinking alcohol or smoking, you are punished by law. Currently, serious incidents due to drinking are increasing among students. Some deaths have occured in Japan due to dangerous drinking games. Please do not play such drinking games or force others to join drinking games! Smoking outside of smoking areas is prohibited. (Smoking while walking and littering cigarette butt on street are prohibited, either!) NOTE: Smoking on Kuramoto Campus is not permitted. ・ Be Careful for Malicious Business and Bank Transfer Scams Malicious Business Malicious business targeted at students are increasing. Following are the examples of current malicious businesses targeted at college students. On-the-street Quick Sales In this type of sales, a person approaches you on the street asking you, for example "Can you take time to fill out a questionnaire?", and tries to take you to their office nearby. In the office, they may ask (or even force) you to sign on a sales contract for expensive cosmetics or membership coupon. Please do not make ambiguous response to their inquiry and clearly decline their offer. Appointment Sales In this type of sales, an unknown person calls you saying "If you use our service, you can travel abroad and stay at a nice hotel at a very low price" and ask you to come to their office to sell another expensive products (such as video learning materials). Please do not answer a phone from an unknown person. Multilevel Marketing/Network Business In this business, you are first invited with the words, such as "You can easily increase your income just by introducing your friends to us." In general, you are asked to buy a product (worth 300,000 yen, for example) to be a member of their business circle; however, because you can collect money (10,000 yen/person, for example) when your friend bought another product from you and became a member of the circle, the friend will contact another friend to ask him/her to buy another product and be a member of the same circle. Although this business may look easy, since we do not have an unlimited number of friends, the business becomes very difficult in the end. In the above example, in order to collect the money you paid (300,000 yen), you need to negotiate with 30 friends and ask them to buy the product; however, since some of your friends can be the friends of your friend, you and your friend will eventually have the negotiation with same persons and cannot only sell the products but collect the money and will lose trust from your friends. Please understand easy money will not only lose your money, but lose your trust from your friends. Illegal Bill for Mobile Phone In case you received a too high-value bill for your mobile phone or you find something wrong on the bill, please contact Consumer Center or the Student Counselling Room. Bank Transfer Scam Many scam cases have been happening in Japan, where someone called you pretending your friend or relative to let you deposit money to a certain bank account. In case you received such scam-like phone call, please call your friend or relative and confirm whether they called you. You may also consult with the police nearby. In case you are involved in a scam... Please quickly contact the International Center or Student Counselling Center. International Center (Click here to see their contact information) Student Counselling Center (Click here to see their contact information) * For further information about the Center, please click here. In case you need to contact Tokushima Consumer Center, please click here. ・ Cult Groups Cult groups tactically approach you to their activities and draw you into their group. 　* They often claim themselves as a "circle." 　* Once you enter a cult group, it becomes very hard to leave the group. 　* Once you are brainwashed by the cult group, you become unable to make a right decision for everything. How Cult Groups Approach YOU Generally, an unknown person approaches you and asks to fill out a questionnaire or to join a party or seminar. This is to get your personal information and to build a personal relationship with you. The cult group members are good at flattery and praise you at first to build psychological rapport with you. Although they are very kind and welcoming to you for the first few months, they gradually (or quickly) start to force you to make a decision to be a member of their group. How to Respond Even if you say "NO" to their inquiries, they will take various means to draw you into their cult group. Please decline their offer or inquiry in a firm attitude! When you are approached and invited to a party by an unknown person, please consult your friends or family. You may also contact the consulting staffs of the International Center or Student Counselling Center. Do not reveal your name and personal information to unknown people. When you need advising ... Please quickly contact the International Center or Student Counselling Center. International Center (Click here to see their contact information) Student Counselling Center (Click here to see their contact information) * For further information about the Center, please click here. ・ Anonymous Calls and Threatening Calls How to respond Anonymous Calls and Threatening Calls Anonymous calls and threatening calls to female students are increasing. Typical examples calls are: 　・ "Your friend is mad at you" 　・ "I'm peeping you all the time" 　・ "I know where you live" In case you received such calls from an unknown person, please take following responses: How to Respond When you receive a call from an unknown person, do not tell your name or do not answer the call. Hang up the call immediately. Keep your answering machine on, and answer the call after you checked who was calling you Apply for Anonymous Call Rejection (by NTT West Japan) (For details, click here) When you frequently receive anonymous calls, write down the date/time of the calls and their contents (you may also record the calls in your phone), and consult the police. If you feel afraid of staying alone in your apartment, ask your friend to stay with you. Change your phone number. * There are some cases where a person contacts a student (or the parent of the student) pretending to be a staff of the University and asks the student's personal information. If you receive such a call, please hung up the call immediately and consult the following consulting sections. * A University staff will sometimes directly contact you. When you received a call from a person claiming to be a University staff, please ask the name and the section title of the person and tell him/her that you will call back to the person later. Telephone directory of the University is available online (for example, click here to access Yahoo Japan Telephone Directory) When you need advising ... Please quickly contact the International Center or Student Counselling Center. International Center (Click here to see their contact information) Student Counselling Center (Click here to see their contact information) * For further information about the Center, please click here. Section of Student Affairs (088-656-7086) ・ Safe Use of the Internet Please remind following issues for the safe use of the Internet: Online Shopping Online shopping services are very convenient; however, many cases, such as where the vendor sent a broken product or the product you ordered did not reach you, seem to be actually happening. Please carefully choose the reliable online shopping service. Online Auction Similar cases as above are also happening in online auction services, but please also note the following Runner-Up Scam on online auctions. Typical example of the scam is as follows: 　・ You made a bit for an auction but failed to get it (You were the second winner in the auction.) 　・ You received an email later, which says "Since the winning bitter withdrew from the auction, you won it!" 　・ You sent money to the vendor, but the product did not reach you ... When you use online auction services, please check the credibility of the vendor as well as the service provider. Online Games and Adult Sites Growing number of troubles are happening on online game sites. The most frequent trouble is you cannot suddenly play on the game site because your account is rejected for unknown reasons. You can be charged huge bills if somebody steals and misuses your account and password. Please carefully manage your passwords and IDs. Also many cases are happening where students are charged huge bills for their access to adult websites. Some malicious software's, such as malwares, can be automatically downloaded from the websites without your notice. Please do not access such websites. 　* Do not access any adult sites or dating service websites! Installing Security Softwares For your security, please be sure to install a security software in your computer. Once your computer is infected with a virus (mostly though emails), not only your computers but also your friends' computers and the network your computer is connecting can be damaged. Before you access the internet, you are strongly advised to install a security software. Also many hazardous cases are happening due to the use of file-exchange softwares, such as Winnie. Installing such file-exchange softwares is not allowed on UT campuses. Social Networking Services Growing number of students are using Social Networking Services (SNSs), but please be careful when you use the service, since somebody can steal your personal information from the site and misuse the information for some illegal purposes When you write personal comments on a blog, please be careful for your wording; your irresponsible comments can cause various troubles to you. ・ Loans and Credit Cards In Japan, you can easily make a credit card just by showing your student card. A credit card is convenient for shopping, but if you shop too much using your credit card, you will quickly go into a huge debt. Please be careful when you use your credit card. In case you need urgent money, for example due to sudden medical surgery or traffic accident, you can apply for UT Student Loan Service and borrow some money from the University. About the service, please contact the Section of Academic Affairs of your department/faculty. 　* Click here to see more information about on-campus financial assistance. ・ When an Earthquake Hits ... Please click here for further information.