:: Students' Families Concerned About Possible Scam
Springdale School District Learns That Telemarketers Are Calling Patrons Demanding Information
SPRINGDALE -- The telemarketing calls started about a month ago and have grown in intensity until a few days ago when a Springdale mother was threatened with a lawsuit for refusing to talk with a Rainstar USA representative.
The first call Juana Soto received last month started cordially enough. The caller said the company wanted to give Soto information about her daughter's education.
The call turned sour when she learned the company representative already knew her daughter's name, age and the school she attended, but she added, she made an appointment to allow the representative to visit with her in her home.
The representative didn't show up for the scheduled appointment. When called again to reschedule the appointment, Soto said she changed her mind about the meeting.
When the caller threatened a lawsuit Monday, saying she would take Soto to court for refusing to take the information the company was offering, Soto became angry.
The next day, Tuesday, Soto called the Springdale School District central administration office and learned that three other parents expressed concerns about calls they received from Rainstar USA.
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Rick Schaeffer, spokesman for the Springdale School District, said the district was not aware of the company's operations until the patrons' calls were received.
"We don't know how they got the names and phone numbers," Schaeffer said. "We have no idea what's going on."
The school district is prohibited by federal law from releasing personal information about students, and district officials wouldn't call a parent to ask for personal information such as a Social Security number, Schaeffer said.
Soto said she wasn't asked for her daughter's Social Security number.
Little is known about the company. The calls came from a Houston telephone but the company has no Web site.
The Morning News called the Houston number Tuesday afternoon. The first call was not answered. The second call was answered by a man who said it was the wrong number.
Springdale Detective Al Barrios said threatening legal action is not a criminal matter, but telemarketers would be crossing the line if they attempted to get personal information, such as credit card or bank account numbers.
Barrios noted he couldn't find information about the company on the Internet. A spokesman in the office of Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said the office has had no complaints about the company.
He advises local residents not to make appointments or allow representatives into their homes until they verify the legitimacy of the company by obtaining a point of contact, a telephone number and an address.
Soto didn't contact police, nor does she know of others who may have received similar calls, but noted some Hispanic families may be reluctant to call police.
Immigrants often bring their fear of police to the U.S., said Al "Papa Rap" Lopez, a staff member at Springdale High School.
They are raised not to trust the police in their home countries where police corruption may be prevalent.
"It's been a challenge to get people to trust police," Lopez said, adding that hotlines have been set up in Rogers and Springdale where crimes can be reported in Spanish.
