Emory has experienced a drastic spike in fraudulent calls from individuals who claim to be associated with the federal government, according to the Emory Police Department (EPD).
Over the past year, there have been 70 incidents reported to the EPD in which a caller claims to be some type of government agent, such as IRS officials and FBI agents, according to EPD Records Manager Edward Shoemaker. Most of these calls contain messages from unknown fraud perpetrators, who threaten to arrest people for failing to pay money that they supposedly owe to federal government agencies. The callers have also impersonated University department members, including those of the EPD.
“These are people who are taking advantage of their ability to pose as authorities,” said Suzanne Onorato, assistant vice president for community.
Director of Student Conduct Julia Thompson expressed concern for the growing prevalence of these sorts of scams. She has seen at least five EPD reports suggesting that Emory students received fraudulent calls, she wrote in an email to the Wheel.
In one EPD police report, the complainant states that she was in her apartment at Emory Point when she received a telephone call from a male with an accent and who said he worked for the FBI. He told her that she was under investigation, and that if she did not pay overdue taxes, she would face imminent arrest. When she demanded to talk to another officer to verify that the caller worked for the FBI, he became aggressive, told her she was going to be arrested and disconnected the line. The caller ID indicated that the call came from a telephone number assigned to the office of the FBI.
While the perpetrators have not been caught, the EPD is currently conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, Onorato said.
The EPD has allocated all cases involving the scam to one detective, who is currently investigating the issue, according to Captain Cheryl Elliott of the EPD.
Elliott added that this problem is not unique to Emory, but it is increasingly becoming a nationwide trend.
“Detectives contact the persons who have reported the calls and compare each case, in an effort to determine similarities in the calls being received on our campus to the nationwide scams,” Elliott wrote in an email to the Wheel.
The cause of the recent rise in scams can be attributed to an increased access to technology, according to Onorato.
"It's happening to individuals across the nation, everywhere,” she said. “This sort of theft has increased over the last 10 years … because most [phone] numbers are free.”
Elliott expressed her concern with this form of deception.
“Emory University students have reported callers impersonating the police department with the caller ID displaying 404-727-6115, the Emory Police non-emergency number,” she said. “Students and others have also received calls where the FBI number is used, or [that of] their local police department.”
She urged students to be vigilant about scams.
“If you receive this type of call, do not provide the caller with any personal information, and do not send any type of payment,” she said.
Students receiving a potentially fraudulent call should contact the formal organization with which the caller claims to be affiliated, and verify their identity before giving them any personal information, Onorato added. “Use common sense. Be more cautious.”
Organizations would only tell people this sort of information in an formal way, such as through a letter with IRS certification, she said.
"If someone's asking for information, there's probably a reason for that,” she said. “It's always better to be more careful in these situations.”
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