At least two families of Hamline students have been approached by individuals claiming to represent Hamline University. They claim that the family’s student is “in trouble” and ask for a cash payment to be made to earn their student’s “release.”
These contacts are scams. They use a technique known as “spearphishing,” which involves research on an identified individual (i.e., learning a student’s name and pairing it with a university employee, in addition to obtaining a usable means to contact a Hamline family).
Please know that no Hamline employee will ever contact you asking for money regarding any claimed personal situation or alleged legal issue. As a reminder – giving scammers contact information via PayPal or any other form of electronic communication runs the risk of greater frauds being perpetrated. Simply do not respond.
Hamline greatly values student privacy. If you receive a contact from anyone claiming to represent Hamline, please contact my office at deanofstudents@hamline.edu or by phone at 651-523-2421 to confirm the contact is a scam and allow us to take appropriate action. You may also contact Hamline Public Safety at 651-523-2100 or by email at security@hamline.edu. For now, though – please stay vigilant. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your support of Hamline University.
