The Information Security Office wants to alert students, faculty, and staff of a type of phone scam called Vishing (voice phishing) which uses fake caller-ID data to give the appearance that calls come from a trusted organization (such as UT Arlington). The caller tells people they owe money to the University and a warrant has been issued for their arrest. Next, the caller solicits immediate payment for the alleged debts.

University officials will not contact you in this manner or threaten arrest for non-payment of debts. Verifying UT Arlington debts, including citations, can be done by checking MyMav or visiting the Bursar directly. Be aware that this is a type of social engineering wherein someone uses influence, deception, and persuasion to get information that would otherwise be unavailable to them (which is also known as fraud).

Caller ID is far from proof positive of a caller’s identity or authentication. Don’t trust incoming calls based on Caller ID. Make 100% sure you know to whom you are speaking. If any incoming calls from supposedly legitimate companies ask for any personal information of any kind… it is a scam. It is fraud. Period.

If you receive an unexpected call like this from someone claiming to be from UTA DO NOT provide your credit card information. If you fall victim to the call, contact UT Arlington’s Police Department at 817-272-3381. For information on preventing social engineering and theft, please contact the ISO at security@uta.edu or call us at 817-272-5487.

For more information about Identity Theft.

For more information about Social Engineering.