Long Beach State University Police released a community safety alert Wednesday after a slew of scam phone calls targeting students and families.
The UPD was notified of a scam targeting family members of current CSULB students where the caller claims to be a UPD officer, according to their Instagram.
“The caller falsely claimed that the student had been arrested by CSULB police and that bail was required to release the student,” said the post.
The scam phone calls are currently under investigation by the UPD.
“We had a couple of concerned parents notify us that this phone scam was going on,” Detective Nick Soewono said. “People being aware is the key part of making sure everyone stays safe, especially with phone scams on the rise.”
The safety alert warned families these kinds of calls are scams, as the UPD does not call or request money over the phone.
“A lot of these scams are unfortunately people impersonating people in government. If it is someone claiming to be a law enforcement entity, we will never ask for money over the phone,” Soewono said.
The UPD advises that potential receivers of these phone calls do not provide personal information, money or anything of value.
If students or their families have received similar phone calls, contact the UPD communications center at 562-985-4101. Soewono also recommends getting the name of the police officer the called claims they go by.
“People should call their local authorities immediately and verify the personal identity of the caller,” said Soewono.
He stressed that this is important for all callers claiming to be government personnel.