Students warned of magazine subscription scam

University Police are warning students of a possible scam involving door-to-door magazine salesmen.

On March 16, two university students reported to university police that they had bought magazines from two door-to-door salesmen, and after looking up the company on the Internet were warned it was a scam.


University Police Chief Patrick Ogden said police transferred the call to the Newark Police because the activity was off-campus.


Lt. Brian Henry of the Newark Police said officers were sent to look for the salesmen but did not find the two men. Henry said it is still unclear whether the magazine salespeople were part of a scam.


"We have not established if it was definitely a fraud," Henry stated in an e-mail message. "The warning is good, because those types of scams do happen, but right now I can't say for sure that was the case."


Several other students told The Review they have experienced similar incidents.


Senior Brian Thomas said two people, a man and a woman, knocked on the door of his Annabelle Street home last week.

The couple was very polite, he said, but he knew it was a scam.


"I listened to them for awhile, but then I was like, ‘Nah,' " Thomas said. "I told them I didn't have any money and I was broke. They seemed a little upset but then just left."


Another resident of Annabelle Street, senior Lindsay Weber, said the couple also knocked on her door.


"They had these laminated pamphlets and told me they could go to one of these exotic vacations if they won the contest," Weber said. "I was like, ‘I don't really read magazines,' but then he went into this whole thing that I could donate one to a children's hospital if I wanted to. He was very persistent."


Anna Williams, 23, of Annabelle Street said she remembers a similar incident in August.


"Two guys came up to my door and told me they were in a contest and that they only had to sell two more magazines to win," Williams said. "From what I've seen, they just walk up and down the street looking for people just getting out of their cars or walking into their houses."


Ogden said the groups might stick around town for two or three days, unless the police run them out of town sooner, and then they will disappear.


"You won't see them again for six months or a year, and then later on some other group will show up doing the same thing," he said.


Ogden said his best advice for students is to ask as many questions as possible.


"You have to ask what the name of the company is, what the salesperson's name is, what their boss's name is and what number you can call if you change your mind or decide to cancel your order," he said. "If something doesn't seem right, though, then just trust your gut and don't get involved in it."


Ogden said scam operations usually target university towns or affluent communities.

"We live in a society today where there are people out there trying to prey on easy victims," he said. "You've got to keep your guard up and make sure that you don't fall into the trap."