Parents in the Lake Oswego community are being warned about a new low preying on their desire to set their kids up for success on the SAT, an alert issued after reports of a scam involving test prep materials surfaced. The Better Business Bureau is cautioning families about calls from scammers posing as representatives from the College Board or other educational organizations, confirming addresses to deliver SAT prep materials that never arrive. This scam targets parents eager to help their children prepare for crucial college entrance exams, luring them with the promise of study aids that, according to a statement obtained by KOIN, are nonexistent.
The con typically begins with an unsolicited call, where the caller, armed with detailed information such as the child’s name, school, and test dates adds a veneer of legitimacy, and confirms shipping details for requested prep materials. Many honest parents, after being fed these convincing lies, end up disclosing their personal information including credit card details expecting a refundable deposit situation, but instead, parents are charged for products that never show up and their money is essentially thrown to the wind as explained in a warning issued by News4Jax.
In a more detailed account of the situation, scammers ask for a deposit, frequently substantial in amount, with the pretense that this sum will be refunded once the materials are returned; a cruel trick where trusting parents hand over funds that they’ll never see again. “Of course, there's a catch,” details a report from Greenwich Free Press, “The caller needs you to pay a deposit, sometimes several hundred dollars, for the materials. They claim it will be refunded when the materials are returned after a set number of days.” Sadly, those materials never arrive, leaving families out of pocket and at risk of broader financial fraud.
The Better Business Bureau stresses the importance of vigilance against such unsolicited calls, advising parents to always verify the legitimacy of the caller by checking the business at BBB.org and to consult the BBB Scam Tracker to see if other reports have been filed. These precautionary measures are crucial for protecting personal and financial information and ensure that the stress of college preparation is not compounded by deceit and thievery; families already strained by the pressures of exam preparation need to guard against these added attacks on their resources and trust, as well-informed caution appears to be the best prevention against such predatory schemes.
