By
Jose Ceja
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UAPD investigating two men posing as Midas representatives
A scam perpetrated over a two-month period by two men posing as mechanics affected an unknown number of students by promising free oil changes and discounted car services, a UA official said.
Diane Newman, commercial and Mall activity coordinator who supervises vendors on the University of Arizona Mall, said she noticed two men, who claimed to be from Midas, trying to sell discounts on car services in front of the Memorial Student Union in November.
Since the men were not authorized to be there, Newman said she told them they needed to go through the application process required of all vendors on the Mall.
Newman said the two then left, but returned. When they did, they filled out the necessary applications to be allowed on the Mall - which includes submitting samples of promotional material.
Newman then gave the two men permission to sell memberships to a savings club which would supposedly entitle members to savings on 25 automotive services for a fee of $59.95.
The men were given permission to be on the UA Mall 10 times - five during the fall semester and five more early this semester. All the while, Newman was unaware that the men had nothing to do with Midas and were stealing students' credit card numbers.
Creative writing junior LeAnne Young, who was the first student to inform Newman of the fraud, discovered she had been taken after she tried to claim one of the services the men had sold her.
Young, who received a charge of $64.77 - including tax - on her credit card after purchasing the "discounts" in late January, said she assumed the "charming" Midas uniformed men were legitimate since they had permission to be on the Mall.
"You would think that your school would protect you from these things," Young said.
Newman, who said she usually requires vendors to show her their business license, said the pair did not show her theirs and gave her a fictitious business license number, which she did not verify.
Despite failing to show proper identification, however, Newman said that the two men gave her a business-license number that looked real.
"They did everything so up front that it surprised me that they were scamming people," she said. "They knew exactly what kind of license number to give us."
Newman said she requested to see the actual license three times but it was never shown to her. The pair since left after they had exceeded the maximum of five visits per semester in February.
UAPD officer Jason Dehmer, who is currently investigating the case, declined to comment.
Although the pair managed to sell fake services to an unknown number of students - Newman said she believes many still do not know they were swindled - this was the first time such an elaborate ploy has occurred on campus.
Often, Newman said, unauthorized vendors selling credit-card subscriptions or trips, legitimate or not, are easy to spot because they show no signs of permanence nor do they display required passed to be on the Mall.
Newman said that although students should be wary of unaccredited vendors, they should still feel comfortable with the majority of those vendors on the Mall able to provide a permit upon request.
For Young, however, it will not be so easy for her to trust future Mall vendors.
"I'm really leery about purchasing anything there again," she said.
