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Local family warning about SAT prep scheme after they were targeted

PITTSBURGH — A local family is warning students and their parents tonight after they were targeted by a sophisticated and well-timed scheme.

“They made it sound so legitimate,” Kenneth Reinert said. “They made it sound like it was coming from my daughter’s school.”

The Reinerts were targets.

“A lady said she was with the SAT Testing Center and that my daughter asked for prep materials for taking the SAT,” he said.

It made sense as Reinert’s daughter had just taken the test at the end of her junior year.

“She had my daughter’s name and address and wanted me to confirm that,” he said. “Then she said, ‘We’d like to mail out these CDs. We’re no longer doing in-person because of COVID-19. There’s going to be a small charge, so we need to collect debit or credit card information now.’”

That’s when red flags went up, and Reinert decided to end the call. He and his wife started researching the company.

“The company doesn’t exist. We called the phone number, and it’s actually for a rebate scam,” he said.

Experts said don’t give out your personal information over the phone if you don’t trust who you’re talking to, do a quick internet search to see if the business is BBB accredited and, when in doubt, hang up.