Raleigh police arrested seven people posing as members of the University’s baseball team to raise money.

Police charged the solicitors with obtaining property by false pretense last week.

According to Public Information Officer Jim Sughrue, this group of people travels from town to town claiming to sell magazine subscriptions to raise money for a cause, and they did not have any affiliation with the team.

Usually, the scammers are not caught, Sughrue said, because by the time police are alerted of their presence, they have left the town.

According to Sughrue, Raleigh police officers caught the suspects this time because people contacted police about their encounters right away.

“That made all the difference,” Sughrue said. “All too often, calls come in a day later or a week later or whatever, and obviously, they’re gone by then.”

Nate Birtwell, director of baseball operations, said the program received calls from three people about the scam.

According to Birtwell, the soliciters seemed like they were “smooth talkers” and “shady,” and some of them offered a chance to win a trip to Hawaii.

Sughrue said police received two reports from the Wakefield area. The first call was from a woman on Aug. 10, who had been solicited the day before. She became suspicious after talking with a neighbor and realizing the same solicitor visted her neighbor and told him a different story, Sughrue said.

According to Sughrue police recieved another report that same day about a solicitor who claimed he was affiliated with the University baseball team.

One of the people who reported the solicitation knew the baseball coach and called him to confirm that the solicitors were from the team, Sughrue said.

“The coach said they were not doing anything like that and that [he] should call 911.”

Birtwell said after the program was informed about the scam, representatives informed those who called to report the solicitors to cancel their checks and alert police immediately of the scam if they thought the solicitors were still around.

According to Birtwell, after police caught the suspects, the solicitors changed their story and said they were affiliated with the club baseball team. Birtwell said he called to confirm but couldn’t reach anyone from the club baseball team.

Brian Burns, president of the club baseball team and pitcher, said the solicitors were not affiliated with his team.

“As far as us doing fundraising, we’ve never done magazines or anything like that,” he said.

Sughrue said after police located the first suspect, they located another four in the same general area and detained them. Other officers then located the other two.

Birtwell said the magazine scam is not unique.

“Apparently, it’s a big-time scam,” he said. “From what the cops say, [the solicitors are] pretty organized about it. They get the money, a news story written about them, and then skip town.”