Robocallers and scammers give us enough reason to field our calls—here’s another…
If you have ever spent a night in jail, it’s likely not an experience you ever want a do-over on. Scam callers have now begun impersonating the police in an attempt to make you pay for fake court fees related to cases that don’t exist. Of course when you pay them, they take the money and it leaves the United States, putting you in a position with little recourse to try and get it back.
In detail, they most commonly cold-call people using the names of actual deputies & police officers, or by “spoofing” the local departments phone numbers. If you request proof they will often go a step further and email you fraudulent credentials! That part was reported by the Social Security Administration further showing the current scope of this threat. They develop a sense of urgency on the phone with you prompting that a lack of payment for these “Court fees” will lead to your arrest as quickly as possible.
The Alexandria, Virginia, Sheriff’s department has sent out an alert to all area residents regarding an ongoing phone scam but it’s likely their warning didn’t go out far enough.
Here are some guidelines to keep yourself safe if you receive a threatening phone call; whether from your bank, your local police department, social security, or any other agency.
- If you are legitimately cold contacted by a local law enforcement agency, they will not ask for payment. Payments for legal proceedings and civil penalties/fines will generally be paid through the court systems. There are occasions where someone at a law enforcement office might ask for payment but that will be due to department specific requests like a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted to their office.
- Remember that law enforcement does not generally make threats, if they issue a warrant in most cases you will not know until you are detained.
- The police and the court system will accept payment using standard cash/credit/check options. They will never ask for payment using Cryptocurrencies or giftcards.
- If you doubt the person on the other end of the line is who they say they are, then hangup and call back through a verified channel like the main department phone number.
If you receive a phone call that matches this description, hang up, and let your local police department know.
Source (SSA.Gov)
Source (Alexandria.Gov)
