Written by Tiane Davis // Graphic by Makayla McDonald
Assistant director of Public Safety Kevin Davis sent an email last week alerting anyone on campus that a few parents of Harding students were contacted asking for money.
According to his email, a person claiming to be “Sgt. Walker” from the “Harding Police Department” was calling people early Nov. 8 telling parents that students had been arrested and the parents were to CashApp bail money to get them out.
Davis said three parents of students were contacted and possibly two or three more based on what the caller had told the parents. He said Public Safety made a report to the Searcy Police as soon as they heard about it.
“Unfortunately, this is a similar scam to what has happened in the past,” Davis said. “The White County Sheriff ’s Office has had people reporting to be law enforcement officers. Of course, the phone number that the person called from was fictitious.”
Davis said no police department anywhere would call a parent and ask for bail money specifically to be sent to a CashApp account.
“Do your due diligence,” Davis said. “When something like that happens, you can ask for the officer’s name and phone number for the agency. If the phone number provided doesn’t match the actual police agency or sheriff ’s office then that’s probably not going to be legitimate.”
Sgt. Corderro Earls at the Searcy Police Department said the case was turned over to the Searcy Police Investigation Division, and that it is still an ongoing investigation.
When receiving any calls about relatives asking for any personal information or asking for money, Earls said, it is best to record the phone number and name and file a report with the local authorities. He said it is best to set a password in advance in case a person receives that type of phone call.
“This will ensure that they are talking to the right person,” Earls said.
In his email to the student body, Davis said any more incidents of this nature can be reported to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov/.
According to the website, such reports allow the FBI to “investigate reported crimes, track trends and threats, and, in some cases, even freeze stolen funds.”
