Ferris State University which is located in Big Rapids, Michigan is reporting that its students are receiving phone calls from someone posing as a university official. In the call the student is told that he or she owes money to the university and if they fail to make the payment over the phone immediately, they will be dropped from classes. This is a scam. Ferris University does not even accept payments by phone. This type of scam is also surfacing at other schools as students get ready for the start of the Fall semester. Unfortunately, whenever you receive a telephone call, you can never be sure who is actually speaking with you because your Caller ID can be tricked through a technique called “spoofing” to make it appear that the call is originating with a college, charity, police department, IRS or whomever the hacker wishes to pose as.
TIPS
If you are a college student and receive a call that purports to be from your college or university demanding money, you should never provide credit card information or pay in any other way over the phone. Instead you should hang up and call your college or university officials at a telephone number that you know is correct to confirm that you do not owe anything. This procedure should be followed by anyone who receives a call demanding an immediate payment over the phone from anyone.
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