In a campus-wide email sent Thursday afternoon, Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD) cautioned students against answering fraudulent phone calls that “[appear] to come from the main NDPD number (574-631-5555) or the South Bend Police Department.”
According to the email, NDPD has gotten numerous reports of callers scamming Notre Dame students and asking for credit information or photographs.
”The caller has warned the victims that they have been implicated in one of several scenarios including; their name has come up in a drug investigation; their bank account was used to launder money; or someone has stolen their identity,” NDPD said in the email.
In the email, NDPD said the department does not call students or ”make notifications in this manner and would never ask for a credit card, money transfers, gift cards or other personal information over the phone or to meet in a remote location.”
Scammers posing as NDPD officials may use titles and fake badge numbers, as well as false information, NDPD said in the email.
Scammers also may offer a variety of false information in order to gain people’s trust, the email said —they may pose as someone in a position of power, demand pay without a bill, leave a voicemail message and threaten to bring in other law enforcement officers.
According to the email, people who should receive a call like this should verify the claims the person has made with someone from the University, talk to a trusted individual or just hang up immediately.
NDPD advises the campus community to report any suspicious calls.
