College of the Canyons officials are warning local residents about a scam being perpetrated in the school’s name, said Bruce Battle, spokesman for the college.
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“We received an email (about the scam),” Battle said. “It’s almost an annual thing — it seems like it happens in the summer most frequently.”
The scam usually involves someone who’s portraying themselves as fundraising for the college’s newspaper, a band organization or some affiliation, Battle said.
The most recent iteration involves students pretending to raise money for a college newspaper.
College of the Canyons has Cougar News, which runs a state-of-the art television news station, but the college has not had a print edition for several years.
“We’re not sure if it’s a group or an individual,” he added, but he also said COC does not solicit funds in this way.
“Door-to-door soliciting is not what we do,” Battle said, adding that it frequently enjoys community partnerships to help its programs.
“We’ll do partnerships with the business community and raise money that way, but we’ve never had our students go door to door,” he said.
Residents should be acutely aware that this is a con, and that they should notify local law enforcement if anyone comes to their doors asking for donations on behalf of the college.
It would be extremely helpful for anyone who comes in contact with these people to ask for ID, to get good descriptions of these people and report them immediately to law enforcement, according to a statement from COC.
The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station can be reached at (661) 255-1121.
COC officials are hoping to get the word out to as many people as possible so that people are not victimized by the scam artists.
If you would like to submit a tip, click here, text “TIPLA” plus your message to CRIMES (274637), call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or download the smartphone application.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.
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