Don’t fall for the woman soliciting personal information from students

According to UMass students living in the Puffton Village Apartments, there has been suspicious activity in the form of solicitations of personal information in the past few days. A woman was reported to have gone door-to-door asking students to show her their electricity bills, claiming to have proper documentation.

“I barely understood what she worked for,” said Maddie Blaney, a UMass senior. “She didn’t look that legit either, but she was basically asking for the electric bill and for a digital copy.”

After contacting administrative staff at Puffton, it became clear that this solicitor was doing work void of their approval. They thus sent staff to escort her out of the vicinity.

This is not the first time that this kind of event has transpired on the Puffton properties. According to a police report documented on the Amherst Bulletin for the month of October 2016, “Puffton Village residents reported providing personal information and billing statements to solicitors claiming to be from the power company. Police said it was uncertain if the solicitors were engaged in illegal activity.”

Furthermore, the next day, a solicitor was reported to have “used obscenities while speaking to a resident.” Regardless, the solicitor in question had fled the apartment complex by the time police arrived on scene.

Do not be the victim of a scam! This goes for Puffton residents as well as all off-campus students. Remember to check with your apartment complex officials before giving out personal information because in many cases the solicitation is not legitimate. It is always better to be safe than sorry.