The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has issued the following warning:

We have recently been made aware of a scam where parents of high school students, and high school students, too, are receiving deceptive phone calls indicating Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, materials have arrived and they need to provide a credit card number to get the materials. This is a scam. We would like to get the word out to all the high schools in the state to pass it along to the parents.   

The parent who initially reported the call to said that the caller stated their name and made it seem as though they were a counselor’s aide for the school their child attended. The caller had information on their children---including, name, address, phone. The caller stated that this was a "courtesy call" and in order to hold the materials and/or send them out, the company needed a credit card number. The amount the caller wanted to charge was $109. When the mother refused to give her credit card number to the caller, they hung up on them. The mother did not have Caller ID, so was unable to report the number.

ADVICE FOR AVOIDING THESE DECEPTIVE PHONE PITCHES:

*Never give out or confirm personal information over the telephone unless first initiating the call.

*If someone cold calls stating they are a rep from your child’s school or are representing the College Board (aka SAT headquarters), CONFIRM FIRST with the school or association/organization that they are making such calls before giving any information to the cold caller.

*Beware of deceptive pitches using your child’s information or status. Anyone with more information or questions can call their child’s school principal to report it so other parents and students can be alerted.

*If you have said yes to these materials, and have an unresolved issue concerning the way the product was pitched, we urge you to file formal complaints with BBB as well as your state Attorney General’s Office.