Man harassing female Penn students by phone

Since the start of the school year, at least three female students have received harassing phone calls, all of which appear to be the work of one man claiming to be a doctoral student in Penn's Psychology Department. According to University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King, three female students have filed similar complaints thus far. In each case, the caller has identified himself as someone from the Psychology Department, explaining that he is working on a study and needs females with "passive-aggressive personalities." All three complaints occurred between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Though the calls begin with talk of a psychology experiment, the topic eventually switches to a sexual nature. At times, King said, the caller has even identified himself as the "naughty night-gram." One of the female students, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the caller seemed very believable -- so much so that she continued to talk with him for over two hours. "He was talking about things that very well could have been in a psychology study, so it was totally believable for a while," she said. "He was crazy enough that he was good." The majority of the conversation did not relate to sexual topics, the student said. "At first I thought it was legitimate so I kept talking to him but the conversation turned sexual and I got really freaked out," she added. The student explained that the caller wanted to enroll her in some kind of study about dominant and submissive personalities. He initially gave the name "Dave Moraglia." There is no one by that name currently enrolled at Penn. In addition, the student said that two of her friends received strikingly similar calls, making the situation even more disturbing. King explained that despite the unusual nature of the calls, an increase in phone harassment is common at the beginning of the school year. "The callers have additional targets of opportunity [in September]," King said. "It probably happens at most universities." University Police have received several unrelated harassment complaints since the start of the school year, King said. Penn Police Det. Jim Blackmore, who spoke at New Student Orientation on the topic of phone harassment, said he believes these latest calls are simply the work of students with a little too much time on their hands. While there is really no way to prevent this type of incident, Blackmore advised that someone who does receive a harassing phone call should hang up immediately and activate the campus call trace system by dialing "257." This technique only works from on-campus phone numbers. The system sends information about the call to police, who can then use it, should the victim choose to prosecute. Additionally, Blackmore warned that people should never give out any personal information over the phone, regardless of who the caller claims he is. King said that unfortunately, many more students may have received similar harassment calls but are uncomfortable reporting to police, much like the reaction of people who fall for flim-flam scams. "People shouldn't be embarrassed," King said. "These callers are slick."