Wave of Telemarketing Calls Harrass Students

Credit card telemarketers have recently called large numbers of Harvard students, insinuating affiliation with the College and failing to heed “no call” requests. Callers, identifying themselves as representatives of Clout Visa, have asked students for personal information, including birthdays and Social Security numbers.

And the influx of solicitations from Clout representatives—whom some students say already know significant personal information—has been unusually aggressive.

Alexander Bevilacqua ’07, a Leverett resident, said that he felt the telemarketers tried to establish legitimacy by saying that they were affiliated with Harvard.

“She basically implied that she had permission from Harvard University,” said Bevilacqua, who is also a Crimson editor. “I said that I wasn’t interested in her services but she insisted that she would call again.”

And some say that the calls bordered on coercive.

“For two weeks they called me more than forty times,” said H. Michael Rosenberg ’05. “Visa was terrible and said it was not their responsibility [to remove me from the phone list] even though Clout was signing people up for Visa cards. Visa said that I could either get a new phone number or call the Attorney General.”

Rosenberg said that he eventually decided to threaten with legal action, and the calls stopped yesterday.

Steven M. Melendez ’07 also said that the Clout representatives were unrelenting in their phone calls.

“They’ve called for everyone in the room at least three times so we’ve gotten about fifteen calls,” said Melendez. “We asked for an opt out number but when we called it they said it was only applicable to Clout customers. They put us on hold and ultimately hung up.”

When Melendez asked where the company got his number, Melendez said the representative told him that the numbers had been taken from “a National Direct Marketing Service” and would not specify further.

Clout Financial’s website describes the company as selling “financial services” specifically to “career minded students and young professionals.”

Nancy Kinchla, director of telecommunications for the College, said she became aware of these calls yesterday.

Harvard policy states that the compilation or redistribution of information from University directories is forbidden.

Kinchla said that she had a staff member at the telecommunications office register a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“They’re calling every university they can get their hands on. From what I hear some callers are asking for social security numbers,” Kinchla said.

Representatives from Clout Financial did not return calls for comment yesterday.

In the meantime, Harvard officials and House masters have discouraged students from responding to Clout’s calls.

Although FCC rules prohibit telephone solicitation before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m., the only way to legally prevent solicitation and potential phone scams during all other hours is registration with Massachusetts’ “Do Not Call” law. The “Do Not Call” law guarantees that residents can register their phone numbers to prohibit the receipt of telephone solicitation by phone (866) 231-2255 or online at www.madonotcall.govconnect.com/welcome.asp.

But the problem of phone solicitations on campus may extend beyond Clout Financial, as students have said that they have received a variety of suspicious calls in the past.

Alana R. van Loenen ’08 says that she suspected ill dealing in a recent phone conversation regarding a “special deal.”

“She started out by saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re at Harvard.’ Then she said I was selected for a special deal and that she would just need some personal information,” said van Loenen.

And Middlebury college recently released a warning to its students regarding a credit card scam claiming to represent Citibank and Visa.