Minnesota's latest phone scam is targeting university students, with callers demanding payments for supposed outstanding tuition and fees, officials said.
Students from the University of Minnesota and its College in the Schools (CIS) program, which allows high schoolers to earn college credit, have received "scary" and "intense" calls from a person pressing for immediate school-related payments.
University officials sent students an e-mail on Friday warning them about the scam and reminding them that the school "does not make threatening phone calls asking for payments."
Other colleges have reported similar calls, so the U's privacy office believes that the student contact information was obtained by systems designed to search public records and create lists of people who can be targeted.
If you receive a threatening message like this, contact Julie Williams, director of the CIS program, with your name and number and the phone number of the caller.
Williams can be reached at 612-626-8179.
Liz Sawyer
