Hey guys! I'm not sure where to post this, so here it is.

Someone called me from a Florida number a couple of days ago saying that his name was John Russell and he was calling on behalf of McMaster University. He said that he got my phone number and transcript from a psychology application form and was contacting me regarding a scholarship and co-op opportunities. He also mentioned that I would be given money to cover my tuition for my undergraduate degree as well as credits for the coop and other work opportunities I could get.
Overall, it sounded really sketchy.
I'm a social sciences student (which he knew) but I have not applied for anything psychology related- I pretty much hated PSYCH 1X03 and never took any psych courses after that. He called my cell phone number too, and knew my name- the only reason why the school would have my cell phone number is from the emergency text notification thing.

The number he called me from is 239-205-4843. He said he was calling from a database/workplace.
I asked for his name and number- he said that his name is John Russell, and his personal number is 905-822-9416, which I believe is a Mississauga number, although I have not called back.

I emailed security and PR at McMaster, and neither of them have responded. I'm not sure who else to contact.

Thoughts, comments, ideas?

I searched the number on Google and you're not the only one to get random calls from this number, where the person calling knows a creepy amount of personal information. It seems to be some sort of prank thing called "magic jack" where you can call people, but the 239 number you gave shows up instead of your own... meaning that you can say anything and no one knows it's you.
Apparently some people are getting calls that sound like children crying, or a "woman in distress" calling out their name personally for help, or even someone calling and asking for a family member (sometimes a young one) by their full name. Sounds messed up and creepy to me. There's something wrong with the people who use the app or whatever it is for this reason....
Anyways, the point is don't fall for it. Whatever the guy who called you was trying to get at, I wouldn't pick up the next time he calls.

The amount of private information available on the internet must be through the roof, if they actually use it for prank calls now. At least they didn't take your pictures from facebook and put them on pornhub or something, be grateful.

(I'm still the best poster on macinsiders btw)

John Russel > J Russel > Jimmy Russell > Rustled Jimmies > Gorilla Crunch.

calling them now

905-822-9416
Random woman answered. did not know john russell, said i had the wrong number. probs just told you a random number. Do you have enemies?


the 293 # was indeed some Magic Jack fucking garbage. Those fuckers told me the only way I can call them is if they have already called my fucking phone. I'll call em again tomorrow. I know it is a prank, and I know it is an app, so there is no way I can do it. Wish I could meet em in person doe.

pick up the next time they call, see if you can figure out if it's an ex bf, or tell them you have a lot of money you don't know what to do with and need to meet up.

Sounds like somebody trying to find out more about you in any case; don't give them any information even if it sounds like it's under the pretense of getting you scholarship money, as such information could include: credit history, bank account information, personal address, and so forth.

I would be interested to find out how this goes.. I personally would be amused at this prankster's attempts to creep you. Definitely sounds like an ex or an enemy, or potentially somebody trying to scam/prank you.

1) Magic Jack isn't an app used for prank calls. It's a low-cost phone service that you use by plugging their device into your computer, lots of people use it for legitimate reasons.

2) This doesn't sound like a prank call to me but a phishing scam. The only way they could get that money to you is through your bank account. One of two things generally happens here. First, they might just take your bank account info but that's not very useful. Second, they might want to send you a cheque for the tuition plus some extra amount and then ask you to send back the extra amount. The cheque would be fraudulent and you get left with a negative balance bank account that you can't do a whole lot about. It's the 1990s equivalent of a Nigerian prince email. Except they've used the internet to research you first.

Nigerian prince email.

Oh, so that's why there's the nigerian prince character in that cyanide and happiness short.

I think it might be a matter of someone found that info on a resume you posted on some resume website.

did the person happen to have a Nigerian accent. Sorry, it anyone is offended by that comment but there are entire call centers in Nigeria set up to run various scams. Or maybe you even replied to an ad with your resume say on kijiji.

Like a PP pointed out magic jack is a legitimate service that has been around since 2007 probably prior. You have been able to get a Canadian number since 2009. you can get incoming calls but you have t activate it properly. I think a scam artist might purposefully not activate theirs fully.

Magic jack is actually a great product to have under certain circumstances.

I used to work for Canada Post (outsourced job) you would be surprised how many people actually mailed their items to Nigeria, with the expectation they would be paid latter. They would call the CP call center with the tracking number (the shipping cost was exorbitant ) and say that a friend told them it was a scam and if CP could retrieve the item. It was almost like the people at the post office enjoyed watching these ppl face the consequences of their stupidity (retrieval is impossible once the item is inducted.)

Creepy, and definitely a scam that needs to be investigated.

First off, I would start to research WHERE they got that information about you and scrub that off the internet. Check your Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, somewhere you could have put a PDF of your resume (good tip Butterscotch), etc.

McMaster's MUGSI system where they ask for your emergency contact info is secure as McMaster has to follow a lot of server security protocols to keep your student information safe. My guess is it wasn't a breach there, but actually someone that found your resume online or looked you up on Facebook in order to find your cell number, and then saw you were a McMaster student and made the connection that way.

As other mentioned, MagicJack is a low cost phone service using VOIP, similar to Skype, but using a USB dongle. People buy a new number when they get the device and service, and then if you call that number back they usually have to have the software on or the device connected in order to answer, so it would make it frustrating to try and get in touch with the prankster/scammer.