‘Kind of terrifying’: OSU-Cascades parents receive scam phone calls, claiming their child was kidnapped

School finds no data breach, but making all students aware

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Scam phone calls are hard to avoid, but some are more than just a bother – they are downright frightening. The parents of some OSU-Cascades students recently received just such calls, claiming their children had been kidnapped – complete with the sounds of screaming, crying young people.

“They knew my full legal name, they knew my location,” freshman Max told us Tuesday. “And just the idea that someone would, like, make a call, saying they kidnapped me puts me really on edge.”

“Like, I know I am not really in danger,” she added. “But the idea that someone is willing to make that up is kind of terrifying.”

On Monday, Max's dad received a phone call from a scam caller, saying she’d been abducted.

“He had got a call, and there was a woman screaming and crying, being like, ‘Dad, help me!’ And then a man was like: ‘Hey, your daughter was in an accident, she’s in my car, and I’m going to need some money to return her to you.'”

Though terrified at first, Max’s father eventually realized it was a scam.

When he insisted on speaking with his daughter, the man then threatened to harm her.

Moments later, he hung up to call Max, and found out she was safe.

“I find it incredibly disturbing, considering I’m a college student, this is my first time out here on my own,” she said. “And I think that’s why it’s such a problem amongst these college students and their parents.”

Her roommate, Ruby, said she experienced something similar with her mother – except this time, the scammer was pretending to be a police officer, demanding money for her to be released.

“She said that it was very real,” Ruby recalled. “She called me, and she was shaking, and she sounded visibly upset. And I was like, Are you okay? What’s going on?’ And she’s like, ‘They said you were in an accident. They said you were in the hospital. They said they found drugs on you. They knew that you were a college student, so they knew you weren’t at home.”

According to the students, their No. 1 emergency contact at OSU-Cascades is the parent who was called.

OSU-Cascades said they did a security search and found no data was stolen.

Christine Coffin, the school’s director of communications and community engagement, said they are working on a message to be sent to all students, “to make them aware of this virtual kidnapping scam, and then also to provide some recommendations on what to do if you’re impacted.” They will be encouraged to share the message with their families.

OSU-Cascades has several emergency help lines on campus, and 24/7 security. Students also can request an escort to dorms at night. “We have campus safety officers who are trained, with nearly around-the-clock coverage,” Coffin said, also telling NewsChannel 21 that Bend Police were informed of the calls.

The school representative said they believe scammers used artificial intelligence to mimic the student crying, and to get personal information for such calls. Coffin said the virtual kidnapping scam has happened at other universities in Oregon and around the country.