The University Record, September 17, 1996
By Rebecca A. Doyle
Computer theft leads
to arrest, trial
A
former consultant to the University was bound over to trial
following his
arraignment and preliminary hearing in 15th District
Court on charges of
theft. He was charged with breaking and entering
in the alleged theft of
three computers from the M-CARE facility on
Plymouth Road in
May.
Suspect sentenced in Law, South Quad
break-ins
A man not affiliated with the University was sentenced
Aug. 22 to
3-15 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of
second
degree home invasion. Break-ins were reported by residents in
both
areas on July 15 and housing officers reported a man in the area
who
answered the description of the witnesses. He was arrested
and
subsequently pled guilty to lesser charges than the original counts
of
first-degree home invasion.
Fire in Natural
Science Bldg. causes $10,000+ in damage
Water, fire and smoke
damage to a fume hood and a laboratory in the
Natural Science Bldg. will
amount to more than $10,000, Department of
Public Safety Captain James
Smiley says. On Sept. 9, DPS officers and
the Ann Arbor Fire Department
responded to a fire alarm at the
building on North University St. A
smoldering cigarette in a waste
receptacle was determined to be the cause
of the blaze. DPS officers
have determined that the fire was accidental
and no further
investigation is planned.
Beware
of phone fraud
A number of University departments recently have
been targeted by
persons attempting to fraudulently obtain long distance
telephone
service. The calls typically begin with a recorded
message
instructing the person answering the phone to press one, at
which
time a caller will come on the line and identify himself as
an
AT&T worker checking the lines. The caller then instructs that
his
call should be transferred and the person should then hang up,
which
results in the University department being billed for a long
distance
call.
AT&T has stated that it does not make such calls to check phone lines and has been receiving a large number of similar complaints, many involving calls originating from prison inmates. If calls like this are received, do not transfer the call as instructed by the caller. Public Safety should be notified of the incident.
Another typical fraudulent call consists of the suspect, who calls collect, identifying himself as the parent of a child hospitalized at U-M Hospitals and requesting to be transferred to a long- distance number for an emergency call. The suspect will often provide a hospital room number and telephone number in an attempt to make his story more credible. Instruction on how to operate this scam has been passed around among county jail inmates in Michigan. Please do not accept such calls and notify Public Safety of any such fraudulent activity.