Greg's Corner

Scam Round Up: Police Impersonation Scams

By Greg Collier

We often say the jury duty scam is probably the most common scam going if news reports are any indication. As we do research for this blog, we’ll find news stories about the jury duty scam on an almost daily basis. The jury duty scam is a form of another scam called the police impersonation scam, since the jury duty scam always involves the scammer posing as police. However, that is only one version of the police impersonation scam. Today, we’re bringing you three police impersonation scams that are happening around the country.

You might have guesses that our first story is the arrest warrant scam. This is where scammers will call a victim while posing as police and telling the victim they have a warrant out for their arrest. Recently, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI has issued a warning that scammers are posing as the FBI. The phone calls to victims even show up as the FBI on caller IDs. Along with the threat of arrest, victims are being asked to purchase pre-paid debit cards and give the numbers to the scammers. The scammers claim these are to prove the victim’s identity.

As with most police impersonation scams, real police do not call people who have warrants out for their arrest. Police would never give a real suspect a chance like that to flee.

In Lawrence, Kansas, at least one victim has received phone calls that appeared to have come from the Lawrence Police Department. The caller accused the victim of harassment, while the caller ID carried a non-emergency number used by the LPD. The victim hung up on the caller and called the actual LPD. While the victim was on the phone with the LPD, the scammer called three more times.

The LPD recommends if you receive a call like that, ask the caller for a name and badge number, then call the department the caller claims to be from.

In Columbus, Ohio, the parents of a college-aged athlete got the scare of their life from a scammer. They received a call from someone claiming to be with the campus police from Ohio State University. The scammer claimed the couple’s daughter was arrested while leaving a nightclub, and if the parents didn’t pay $2000 their daughter would be turned over to the Columbus Police Department. Again, the caller ID had the number of the OSUPD.

The parents didn’t fall for the scam, as their daughter had a game the next day, and she wouldn’t typically go out the night before a game. It turns out, the scammer targeted the parents of a number of athletes from the same team.

If you think this sounds a lot like the grandparent scam, you’d be correct, as the grandparent scam is also another version of a police impersonation scam.

If someone claims to be a police officer, ask for their name, badge number, and the name of the department they work for. You can then call the police department directly to verify their identity. Try to avoid volunteering any personal information, as that can be used against you while the scam is taking place. Lastly, never give the scammers any money. No legitimate law enforcement officer or agency will ever ask for money over the phone.