Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Scammers posing as University financial aid employees pose potential threat to students

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Caleb Kuntz

The University of Texas Police Department confirmed a new scam intended to affect UT students in a public report Friday morning.

According to the report, the scam involves a call from someone claiming to be from UT Financial Aid and threatens students’ enrollments in the University if they fail to pay a certain amount of money.

The scammers try to disguise their true identity by making it seem like they are calling from a University number and by sending emails in which they claim to be UT President Greg Fenves, according to the report.


UTPD Sgt. Victoria Valenta said the police department received the first report of this scam from a student Thursday, but they have not received additional reports since then.

While the recent IRS scam has also caused problems for students, Valenta said those scammers threaten students by telling them they will be arrested if they do not comply with their demands to transfer money.

“Basically, the University is not going to call and ask a student demanding them to meet at a public place or send them money via a wire transfer,” Valenta said. “We’re just asking students to hang up and report it to our police department if they receive a call like that.”

Valenta said there is currently no information regarding the identity of the scammers.

Valenta said scammers receive contact information via the UT Directory, and she encourages students to restrict the information that is published about them online.

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Scammers posing as University financial aid employees pose potential threat to students