r/uwaterloo

WARNING: Italian Leather Jacket Scam active recently around University of Waterloo - Lost $1000

Hi everyone, posting this as a major warning so nobody else falls for this obvious scam like my dumbah did. I unfortunately just got taken for $1000 CAD by a professional scammer operating right by the university and across Ontario (it's a popular scam I never heard of till yesterday).

HOW IT WORKS: 
A well-dressed Italian man with a thick accent pulls up in a brand-new rental car/SUV. He starts by asking for directions to Pearson Airport due to no mobile data. Once you help him, he acts incredibly grateful and claims he is a luxury fashion designer (Tom Ford) who just finished a local trade show. 

THE HOOK: 
He says he can't fly back to Italy with his sample jackets because of high baggage fees/customs taxes, so he insists on "gifting" them to you for free. He puts them in your arms and shows they're fire-proof using a lighter. Then, the tone immediately shifts as he claims his credit cards are blocked internationally, and he needs quick cash for a rental car return fee before his flight in a few hours. He manipulates you into walking to the nearest ATM to hand over cash in exchange for a bundle of "valuable" jackets, promising to return the money once he gets back to Italy and the company refunds him.

THE TRUTH:
The jackets are branded as "TF Collections" or "TF Designer." They look decent at a glance but are cheap, worthless synthetic faux-leather knock-offs worth maybe $30-50. 

Where it happened: 131 University Ave W
Target: innocent-looking students and young adults, and from other reddit posts apparently a lot of senior people

If anyone pulls up to you asking for directions and immediately transitions into talking about fashion or clothing, or just anybody asking for help with money, WALK AWAY immediately, take a photo of car plate number and report to police. Please upvote this so other students see it.

Don't be gullible and "kind" like me, and trust your guts when interacting with ALL strangers. No amount of familiarity (I felt the need to help him as an International student myself) makes you responsible for helping somebody in need.

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u/Opposite-Cable4736 — 4 days ago

UW students, what’s the most Waterloo-coded thing you’ve witnessed that sounds completely made up?

moving to Waterloo in January for Laurier, and lurking on this subreddit has made me realize that UW students seem to have an entire universe of lore that outsiders don’t understand 😭

Between the geese, co-op stories, weird campus traditions, and everything else, I’m convinced there’s some stuff that happens here that wouldn’t make sense anywhere else.

So what’s the most ridiculous, funny, or bizarre thing you’ve personally witnessed at UW or around the university area?

I’m talking stories you’d tell someone from another university and they’d think you’re lying.
Also, is thanking Mr. Goose just a meme or something I legally have to start doing when I move here?

Also, is thanking Mr. Goose just a meme or something I legally have to start doing when I move here?

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u/Jimbo032004 — 4 days ago

Please Review my Resume and CV

I really am quite screwed right now. I am a second year doing my first coop term, and I have heard nothing back from cycle one or from my applications done on LinkedIn. I know it's mostly my fault for being too lazy to spend the time to excel academically, and I must lie in the bed of nails I created for myself. I still do think there might be a small chance of hope for me despite how competitive everything is if I can create the perfect CV/resume. So please, if you could, look through my resume and cover letter and give some advice. You are more than welcome to flame me since I probably deserve it.

u/Ok_Purple_1593 — 4 days ago

Help with coop

I am a 1A ME student that was recently lucky enough to be given a CAD eval by a startup after not getting ranked in cycle1. However, as a first-year student, I had no idea how to do any of the tasks given or even what some of the terms meant. Normally I would still try to give it a shot but it's also during midterm week where I need to do a lot of studying. Another concern is if I complete this through a lot of learning specific to this task and the help of AI, would I completely fail on the coop when most of the tasks given are similar to this? What should I do in this situation? Just give up on the eval and hope I get something else in cycle 3 and study for midterms, or try to rawdog it?

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u/SpiritualGap9394 — 4 days ago

How do people “network”?

People all the time say, “just network” and somehow you’ll be able to land some crazy internships. I found this whole process to be fake, like wont they know the second I’m reaching out to them that there’s something I want to get out of the conversation?

Anyways, do you guys have any tips/advice on how to actually network in a way that’s meaningful and could also help with landing better internships?

Looking for genuine advice.

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u/NovelPermit2655 — 4 days ago

Co op for Geomatics

What type of co op positions do geomatics students get into? Just curious. I’m a first year geomatics student.

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u/Lancool3 — 4 days ago

Am I tripping?

Do I just have a sensitive nose or do certain buildings (DC, certain areas of E7, certain floors of DP) smell like BO/have an unpleasant odor? I always worry it's coming from me but when I leave these areas the smell is completely gone. I shower daily + use deodorant religiously and don't smell anything when I smell my own clothes/body. Are people here so stank that the smell clings to the building? When I've asked my friends they've said they don't smell anything in these areas, I do get overstimulated easily so I wouldn't be surprised if it's just a quirk of my senses.

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u/AlarmingGamma418 — 4 days ago

Opinions on Math 106

How's Math 106? I'm a non math major doing a minor in math and I need to take a Math 106.. How's the course on a scale of 1-10? Is it interesting or boring lol?

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u/CreativeCopy7715 — 4 days ago

INDUSTRIAL vs SYDE eng

Hi guys. i’m looking to apply for systems eng in either Uoft and UW. My averages are quite good (98) and lots of ecs in control systems.

I know UofT’s industrial eng (though literally systems eng) is designed for you to graduate with a minor in AI engineering. High coop rate and pay (70k avg) in second-third year as well. but Uoft is very academia focused and i don’t know if it’s for me. Syde offers basically the same streams as Industrial. Does it have more hands-on projects? I enjoy working with a team or solo on projects more than studying tbh. What percentages of your time is spent on studying and how much on person projects?

Any input from any eng is appreciated! thanks for your time!

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u/Alone-Opening9408 — 4 days ago

How UW's Health Sci programme?

I'm a grade 12 considering applying to UW Health Sci mostly because of proximity and I was wondering how it holds up when compared to the other major unis (because it is moreso a engineering university) Health Sci programmes. I was wondering if co-op in this programme is worth it if I want to do med school or if it is a programme that is a GPA killer?
Looking into the course material, I see that it doesn't have as many hard sciences so I was also what you might need to take on your own with your electives, and what kind of mandatory science electives there are?
Anything else about the programme and your experience would be appreciated. :)

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u/iwantunity — 4 days ago
▲ 2 r/uwaterloo+1 crossposts

What does this mean? The interview process is only one round.

Hi …….,
 
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. We were impressed by your qualifications and the insights you shared during our conversation.
 
Our HR recruiter will be in touch with you by Friday, October 9th regarding next steps.
 
We appreciate your interest in this opportunity and look forward to connecting with you soon.
 
Thanks,
 ……..

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u/Ok-Pickle-5883 — 8 days ago

lester fence back up...

who tryna take it down

screw you 143 columbia management

u/Waterloobot — 12 days ago

Power’s out

I’m in DC rn and power just went out along with eduroam. No idea how i’m supposed to do my downloaded PDFs 😭😭

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u/Murkyturky — 12 days ago

Sketchy guy vandalized my car on Campus parking lot

So I was waiting to turn left on University, coming out of the Shinwa place on plaza. This guy literally bumped into my stationary car and got pissed off because he did not look at the road. He used his cane to scratch my car and when I tried to tell him why he did that, bro literally was about to use his cane to smack me. Did not want to escalate further so I just drove off. I think he might be on some drugs

The campus is getting dangerous everyday. Keep an eye out folks. I only have video of dash cam at the back of my car when he damage it.

u/6packsmidget — 12 days ago