Dear EIU Students and Faculty/Staff -
The Eastern Illinois University Police Department is warning the campus community to be on alert for a phone scam that primarily targets college students while displaying the telephone number of the Chicago FBI Field Office on the recipient’s caller ID. The University Police Department has received multiple reports from college students complaining that someone claiming to represent the U.S. Government or claiming to be an FBI agent has been contacting them through their cell phones. The caller claims to have specific student information. In some of the cases, the caller advised that the student is delinquent on student loans, taxes, traffic tickets, or parking tickets. The caller has sometimes also threatened that the student will be arrested if they don’t comply. The caller requests that fees are to be paid through MoneyGram or a wire transfer.
The University Police Department has been in contact with the FBI regarding this scam. The FBI has advised that other universities across the state and nation have reported similar incidents. The FBI does not call private citizens requesting money. Be vigilant, and never give out personal information or respond to requests for money from callers you don’t know.
Individuals receiving such calls can file a complaint through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov.