Strange new police impersonation scam emerges

Strange new police impersonation scam emerges

By Greg Collier

As we often state, the police impersonation scam that is the most common has to be the jury duty scam. Again, this is when scammers pose as the victim’s local police, even going as far as to spoof the police department’s phone number. The victim is told they missed jury duty and a warrant has been issued for the victim’s arrest. Then the scammers tell the victim they can avoid arrest if they make an immediate payment. This payment is usually made through unconventional means such as gift cards, cryptocurrency, or money transfers. A variation of this scam is when the victim is just told flat out there’s a warrant for their arrest.

Now, a report out of Wisconsin says there is yet another version of the police impersonation scam. A sheriff’s department has issued a statement saying they’ve received an alarming number of phone calls about this scam. In the latest scam, the scammers are still posing as local police, including spoofed phone numbers, but the scammers’ demand is more than unusual. Residents have said that not only are the scammers demanding a $1000 payment in gift cards, but they’re also telling residents they need to undergo a court-ordered DNA test, or they’ll be arrested.

We get why the scammers would ask for money in gift cards. That’s just what they do. However, a request for a victim’s DNA is a new one for us. We can’t imagine what the DNA would be used for, but the supposed DNA test may just be a ruse to get the victim to meet the scammer in person.

Even with this new twist on the police impersonation scam, the ways to protect yourself remain the same. No legitimate law enforcement agency, office, or department will ever call you demanding payment. They won’t threaten you over the phone with arrest if you don’t pay them immediately. If there was a warrant out for your arrest, or a court-ordered DNA test was required, the investigating officers or agents would come to you without a phone call.

If you receive one of these phone calls asking for money, or in this case your DNA, hang up and call your local police department at their non-emergency number. Not only can they advise you the call is a scam, but they can now inform the community of the scam as well.