West Virginia University Police are alerting students and community members about recent door-to-door magazine sales scams.

The persons involved in the most recently reported scam have claimed to be journalism students who are trying to earn money to pay for a trip.

The University community and general public should be aware the people making these claims are not WVU journalism students, and they are not affiliated with WVU in any manner.

Sales scams of this type happen frequently, note University police. Often the persons involved claim to be earning money for college or for their school. In the recently reported case, the scam involved a false claim about credit for a trip.

The scam operations move from city to city, often targeting college towns, while hurting legitimate fund raisers, police say. Sometimes the people who are recruited to sell magazine subscriptions are also victims of a scam.

If you are approached by anyone selling magazine subscriptions, and the person claims to be affiliated with WVU , ask for the name of a sponsor and a phone number that you can call to verify the claim, police say.

Suspicious activity on campus can be reported by calling University Police at 293-2677 or 293-COPS, or by dialing 9-911.

For off campus reporting, call 911 and report the incident to local police.