Following several suspicious encounters, Safety and Security warned students to beware of door-to-door salesmen who offer false stories in order to sell potentially fake magazine subscriptions in campus residence halls.
Jeannie Valkevich '08 had just entered her room on the fourth floor of Streeter Hall on July 10 when a man wearing a grey Dartmouth football T-shirt knocked on her door. He claimed to be a member of the Class of 2010 on campus for summer football team training. He entered the room and pulled out a portfolio of magazines to sell to Valkevich, allegedly to raise money for the team.
She initially believed his story, but then the man started to act strangely, she said.
"He started looking at pictures of me and my boyfriend," Valkevich recounted. "It was just kind of weird, and I told him I didn't want a magazine."
According to Valkevich, the man was "getting overly friendly" and then asked to take a picture with her. She agreed, and after the impromptu photo opportunity, he said, "Okay, I need a kiss or a handshake before I leave."
She stuck out her hand.
After discovering that no incoming freshmen football players were on campus, Valkevich became suspicious of the incident and e-mailed Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone, who told her there were two other similar incidents that had been reported.
Giaccone, who termed the incident a "usual and annual summertime occurrence," indicated that the investigation has not made much progress.
"All we've been able to find out was the name of a supervisor, who has not called us back," he said.
According to Giaccone, the man, who called himself Dylan, was described as darker-skinned, in his 20s, with a shaved head and a large build.
Giaccone said the man had probably not broken any laws, including ones prohibiting trespassing. He said that "whoever bought subscriptions will more than likely get their magazines." Due to a lack of subsequent reports, the man has likely since left the area, he said.
Two floors below Valkevich in Streeter Hall, Bethany Morris '08 was approached by the same man, who entered her room and presented the same story that he told Valkevich minutes later.
"At first I didn't really think much of it," Morris said. "I wasn't scared or anything, but I thought it was almost humorous how nervous he was."
One student actually fell victim to the scam, losing $40. A member of the Class of 2007, who wished to remain anonymous because she was embarrassed about the incident, said the man entered her dorm room, offering the same story about being a football recruit selling magazines to raise money, this time adding that it was for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
"He said he got points for the football team and he got extra points since I was in a sorority," she said.
She agreed to buy a subscription.
"Then he gave me the pink and yellow copies of the receipt, which he had me sign, and asked me to write three things about him that I liked on the back of the white copy for him to build character, as he explained," she said.
Safety and Security advised students through a BlitzMail bulletin to be on the lookout for "a male selling magazine subscriptions as a scam in residence halls," following a report from the Hanover Police Department. Also in a Blitzmail message, Community Director Brian Reed warned undergraduate advisers to be on the lookout for the magazine peddler.
"From what I can gather it is a scam," he wrote. "Additionally, please be aware that ORL policy prohibits door-to-door sells. If you encounter anyone 'selling' magazine subscriptions on behalf of a charity, namely St. Jude's Children's Hospital, please contact Safety and Security."
Unlike Giaccone, the rising senior who lost $40 said she thinks the sale was a scam and that she will not receive any magazines. She researched the company name on the internet and found it was not a legitimate organization.
"It really sucks and I'm sure anyone would've been as pissed off as I was, but I'm most upset because I should've followed my instincts when I knew door-to-door sales were sketchy," she said. "I think Dartmouth just gives us all an unusually greater sense of safety than on other campuses."
