Unsportsmanlike conduct.
Four families of college football players were recently targeted by a scam, convincing them their son was in jail and needed their bond paid.
When the scammer called four families of University of Arkansas players in Pine Bluff, telling them they would have to pay about $1,000 in bail, three of them knew about the scam while the fourth wasn’t so lucky.
The mother of senior kicker Dean Sarris sent money to a scammer in a panic.
“This guy said, ‘It’s Officer Jenkins with campus security, I’ve got your son Dean here, he’s been arrested,'” Allison Sarris told Fox 16.
Sarris said his family had just returned to Ohio following a visit to UAPB, a Division I HBCU school from the Southwest Atlantic Conference, to watch a recent game when he got the call.
“I panicked like I shouldn’t have and I sent the money,” added Sarris. “I went straight into mama bear mode and was like oh my God, I can’t, my son is sitting in a jail cell in Arkansas.”
The family of UAPB senior kicker Dean Sarris fell victim to a scam after they received a call saying he was in jail. FOX 16’s Allison Sarris, Dean Sarris’ mother, said she panicked and went into full mama bear mode when she got the call. Fox 16
To make matters worse, Dean was sleeping in his dorm when his mom got the call and couldn’t immediately tell him that he wasn’t in jail.
The hoax calls, which were sent over several days, targeted football players because it was easier to access their information, a coach theorized.
“Any young kid, it’s a shame to be targeted but I think obviously they’re more accessible for information,” UAPB Special Forces Coordinator Kyle Kramer told the station. “They have player backgrounds and profiles and things like that.”
UAPB Special Teams Coordinator Kyle Kramer said football players are targeted because their information is more publicly accessible than anyone else’s. Fox 16
Many schools showcase their student athletes with pictures, stats and personal information including their hometown and in Dean’s case the names of his parents and older brother.
“It’s actually kind of a relief that they’re going after the other players as well,” Sarris said of the three other families, who thought it was a scam before sending money.
“At first we just thought Dean was the target. I can’t believe I’m in love,” said Sarris, who added she reported the fraud to the bank and is waiting for her money to be returned.
At least 4 families of UAPB players were named as part of the scam, but only the Sarris family sent money to the scammer. Fox 16
Sarris is not the only mother who has been tricked into thinking their child is in danger.
In July, a Georgia mother “nearly had a heart attack from sheer panic” when scammers used artificial intelligence to recreate her daughter’s voice in an attempt to pretend she had been kidnapped.
Debbie Shelton Moore received a phone call saying her daughter Lauren had been taken by three men and held with a $50,000 ransom.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
