Phone scammers claiming to be with the UO Police Department are attempting to defraud people with bogus stories about nonexistent investigations or debts.

Such scams crop up regularly across the country, but this is the first time fraud artists have claimed to be UO police. According to the department, a professor recently reported getting a phone call from a scammer claiming he had to post money to avoid arrest.

No law enforcement or other government agency will ever call someone and demand some kind of immediate payment. For a complete story on the scam, see Phone scammers pose as UOPD on the UO Police Department web page.