KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Killeen Independent School District warned employees about scam calls threatening wage garnishment after reports of fraudulent calls targeting district staff. Criminology expert Alex Del Carmen explained that teachers are particularly vulnerable because their personal information is often publicly available on school websites. The expert emphasized that legitimate government agencies like the IRS never call requesting personal information like social security numbers, and recommended asking verification questions to identify scammers who typically use limited information to create convincing but false scenarios.
- District Warning and Limited Information: Killeen Independent School District issued a Facebook warning to employees about scam calls threatening wage garnishment, though district officials have limited information to share about the specific incidents targeting their staff members.
- Expert Analysis on Teacher Vulnerability: Fort Worth criminology expert Alex Del Carmen explains that teachers are specifically targeted by scammers because their names, photos, and personal information frequently appear on publicly accessible school websites, making them easier targets for fraudulent schemes.
- Government Agency Communication Protocols: Del Carmen emphasizes that legitimate government entities, particularly the IRS, will never call individuals requesting personal information like social security numbers, and advises people to immediately hang up on such calls as they are definitively fraudulent.
- Scammer Tactics and Protection Strategies: The expert describes how scammers use small pieces of publicly available information to build credible-sounding arguments, and recommends asking verification questions like current weather conditions or requesting official website information to identify fraudulent callers.
Check out the story:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Killeen Independent School District issued a warning to employees about scam calls targeting them with false wage garnishment threats, highlighting a growing concern about criminals targeting educators.
The district posted a Facebook warning earlier this week after receiving reports of the fraudulent calls. A district spokesperson said they have limited information to share about the specific incidents.
Criminology expert Alex Del Carmen from Fort Worth explained that scammers specifically target teachers because their personal information is often publicly available.
"Criminals look for the opportunity to scam someone and what they do in this case is they look for teachers whose names and pictures often times appear on websites," Del Carmen said.
"They go after the vulnerability," Del Carmen added.
The criminologist emphasized that these calls pose serious threats to personal information security. People with public information on websites become easier targets for scammers.
Del Carmen stressed that legitimate government agencies have specific communication protocols that scammers exploit.
"There are many entities in our government that will never call you. The IRS will never call you and ask you to give them your social security so if somebody is making that claim just go ahead and hang up," Del Carmen said.
To protect against these scams, Del Carmen suggests asking callers specific questions, such as inquiring about current weather conditions or requesting website information for their claimed organization.
"These folks are very very clever but they get very small pieces of information and they get fixated on these pieces and then try to make it into a credible argument," Del Carmen said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
