Pages

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Phone Fraud Aimed at UCLA: 310-794-6699


Phone calls are coming to UCLA people, present and past, purportedly from the number 310-794-6699. Possibly, this is related to the theft of a UCLA info database a few years ago. According to various web sources, often calls are received from this number but no one is there. However, in some cases, individuals purporting to be from UCLA have been reported to ask for donations or for personal information. If you call the number, you get the general UCLA medical center operator. Apparently, unused numbers belonging to the medical center - when called - go to that operator. The usual precautions apply: Don't give out personal info on the phone, even if someone who claims to be from UCLA asks.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure it is from data stolen years ago. I have been receiving calls from this number. My number is only a few months old. I am a former UCLA medical grad. Picked up the phone yesterday and the caller asked if I was Dr.... When I confirmed that I was, they didn't ask for donations or any other information, they just hung up

Anonymous said...

I just received a call from this number as well. The caller asked for me by my first name only. When asked who was calling, they hung up. I checked the caller ID and recognized the UCLA prefix. I am a UCLA alum.

Wendy Felton said...

I’m with the UCLA Fund and would like to clarify this.

The number in question may be displayed when you receive a call from the UCLA Fund Student Call Center, which is a branch of the UCLA Fund and staffed by UCLA students. However, our callers will identify themselves when they call. As fundraisers, they solicit contributions from alumni, parents, and other members of the UCLA community. They will also attempt to verify personal information such as cell phone numbers and email addresses.

If you receive a call from this number claiming to be our call center, you can verify by getting the caller’s name (which, again, our student callers will provide) and calling (310) 794-0277.

Not all calls coming from this number originate at the call center, unfortunately, so this has been the source of some confusion. We’ve been working to resolve this issue for some time, and we expect to have a dedicated call center line in place soon.