The University of Iowa Police Department wants community members to be aware of a phone scam that is currently impacting University of Iowa employees. University employees have reported receiving an unsolicited phone call from a person claiming to be an officer with a local law enforcement agency.

The impersonator often:

• Identifies themselves as a police officer, or a sheriff’s deputy.
• Says they are contacting the employee about an ongoing investigation and uses the employee’s name or other personal details.

In some cases, these scams sometimes spoof the legitimate phone number associated with a local law enforcement agency or officer and may be impersonating an officer to gain the trust of the victim as part of a scam. In other cases, the caller may leave a random phone number alleging it is that of the person they are impersonating.

It is important to remember that law enforcement will never ask you to send money or provide financial information under any circumstances. If you or someone you know receives such a call, disconnect immediately without providing any personal or financial information and report it to your local law enforcement agency. 

If you receive a phone call while on campus, please report the incident to the University of Iowa Police Department (319-335-5022).

Safety Tips

Recognizing the common signs of a scam can help you avoid one. Scammers typically pretend to be from an organization you know, say there’s a problem or a prize, and pressure you to act immediately. They also tend to ask you to pay in a specific way.

• Never give personal or financial information to an unsolicited call or email request that you didn’t expect.
• Block unwanted calls and text messages.
• Be suspicious of callers who demand immediate payment for any reason.
• Resist the pressure to act immediately.
• Stop and talk to someone you trust before taking any action.
• Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists you use cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service, or a gift card. Never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
• If you think you’re the target of a scam, hang up without providing any information or money and report the call to your local police department.
• Be thoughtful about what information you post online and keep your privacy settings up to date on social media sites. Scammers often pull personal information about their targets from the internet to gain trust or seem legitimate.

The Iowa Department of Justice has additional information and resources available to protect consumers from scams, as does the FTC Scam Alert website.

This information also lives on the Safety Tips section of the Campus Safety website, here: https://safety.uiowa.edu/safety-tips#scams