The FBI is issuing a warning Monday about a particular phone scam that is targeting college students at several campuses across the nation.
The scammers display the FBI's telephone number on the caller ID screen and tell students that they are representing the U.S. government or even claiming to be FBI agents. The scammers also tell students that they have delinquent student loans or dues, delinquent taxes, or even overdue parking tickets, according to FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett.
On occasion, the caller even threatens the students with arrest and not graduating from school if these fees are not immediately sent via MoneyGram.
During each attempt to gain students' personally identifiable information, the caller claims to have specific student information. In addition, the originating telephone number used by the scammer is displayed or “spoofed” as that of the telephone number of the Atlanta FBI field office.
The FBI wants to remind you that they do not call private citizens requesting money and also to remind you to never give out unsolicited requests for personal information to callers that you don’t know.
If you are receiving such calls can file a complaint through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at twww.IC3.gov.