One week ago an Iowa State student became the victim of a phone scam.

On Oct. 28, Julie Pollert, sophomore in agriculture business, received a phone call from a woman claiming to represent Verizon Wireless, trying to sell Pollert a cell phone and calling plan.

Pollert said she listened to the pitch and gave the salesperson her name, address, Social Security number and other information.

As the conversation continued, Pollert became less interested and said no to the offer.

“It sounded good and you’re supposed to say yes afterwards,” Pollert said. “Well, I said no.”

Pollert said after the woman continued to pressure her, she was given a tracking and customer care number, then heard laughing on the other end of the line before the salesperson hung up.

“By then I was really mad,” Pollert said.

Pollert tried to call the customer care number but it did not exist.

“I got really suspicious then,” Pollert said.

Pollert called Verizon and they told her they do not do telemarketing sales. By this time, Pollert knew she had been scammed.

“So, that turned out to be a wonderful scam,” she said. “They got all kinds of information about me.”

Pollert said she contacted authorities, canceled credit cards and took other precautions to protect her identity.

“Just to get out of this you have to change your debit card number, put security on all your accounts and put fraud alerts on your credit reports so nobody can take credit cards out in your name.”

Pollert is not alone. Mary Kruger Eyler, president of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Iowa, said identity theft is one of the fastest-growing fraudulent acts in the country.

Kiley Mast, senior teller at University branch of First National Bank in Ames, said consumers need to be aware of scams.

“We tell all of our customers not to give out any kind of information like that if a call is solicited.”

Mast said the bank will ask victims of fraud to write a summary of the situation and then the bank does what it can to help.

It is also recommended to file a complaint with the state’s Attorney General’s office. Bob Brammer, communications director for the Iowa Attorney General, encourages victims to report the problem to the consumer protection division.

“Let us know so we can keep tabs on what’s going on,” he said.

Individuals should also report a fraud to the Better Business Bureau. Eyler said the organization’s job is to educate and inform the public.

“When we get information of a scam in the state we get that information to the press in hopes of slowing it down,” Eyler said.