Are you or your student getting phone calls from someone attempting to sell standardized test materials and requesting personal data? If so, please visit www.nationalmerit.org and read the pop-up announcement on their website. They offer a link to report these scam calls to the FCC.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has recently received reports of fraudulent phone calls being made by callers posing as employees of NMSC who are contacting students/families attempting to sell test preparation products and requesting sensitive personally identifying information, such as credit card numbers. Please know that these calls are not originating from NMSC and should be reported to the FCC.
Please report these calls to the FCC by using this link
This type of activity, known as telemarketing fraud, is a crime. If you receive an unsolicited phone call from someone claiming to work for NMSC, even one that specifically identifies NMSC (or “National Merit Scholar”) on the caller I.D. (some of these callers engage in illegal “spoofing” to make it seem as if the call is coming directly from the organization), do not provide the caller with any personal information.
NMSC does not make unsolicited phone calls to students or families requesting this type of information. Representatives of NMSC only make calls to students and their families in response to student-generated inquiries and/or to follow up on materials related to a student’s participation in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Should you have a question about the origin of a phone call you have received in which the caller claims to be from NMSC, please contact them immediately at (847) 866-5100.