The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department sent emails to parents of students Thursday warning them of a recent phone scam asking for money, according to a university news release.
This kind of phone scam often starts with the caller pretending to be from UWPD and telling the parents their son or daughter has been arrested. The caller then asks the parents to provide their financial information in order to release their children, according to the release.
UWPD said in the release it will never act in such a manner, nor would it ask parents for money to release someone from custody.
The scam, which is similar to a larger nationwide operation, aims to collect financial information from parents.
UWPD said in the release parents should tell such callers they will call the police and then hang up. However, it is not necessary to actually contact the police unless they feel endangered or have already provided their financial information to the caller.
