COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) — Authorities in Colonial Heights are warning residents about a new phone scam targeting people in the Tri-Cities area.
According to the Colonial Heights Police Department, reports involve unknown individuals calling people, identifying themselves as Colonial Heights Police officers and asking for money. Police officers like Sgt. Desiree McCurry are working to warn citizens about it before its too late.
“People apparently getting phone calls from our “officers” that work here, just telling them that they have missed some sort of jury trial,” said McCurry. “And they had to pay a certain amount to excuse that warrant, pretty much.”
The scammers are asking for the money in the form of Apple gift cards, according to police.
“In order to have that warrant erased, they would have to pay our police department in Apple gift cards, the warrant will go away after that,” McCurry said about what the scammers are allegedly claiming.
While the scam hasn’t claimed any victims so far, it has left a lot of residents confused and concerned.
“Thankfully our citizens had been calling in and advising our dispatchers that someone’s impersonating an officer that works here,” McCurry said.
McCurry said this isn’t the first time a scam has come around in which people impersonate officers to try to steal from victims. She added that it can be hard to track down who exactly is on the other end of the line.
“With cases like this, a lot of times because they’re using an app,” said McCurry. “When we have, in the past, tried to do a search warrant and try to ping the cell phone, it pings to multiple locations throughout the country.”
McCurry said it’s always a good idea to verify who you’re talking to by calling the police department directly.
“If you dial 7, it takes you straight to our dispatch center, and they wouldn’t be able to verify all the information that you’re gathering from this scammer who’s calling you,” McCurry said.
The Federal Trade Commission also offers advice to avoid falling victim to scam callers. It includes simply hanging up, using a call blocking feature and not always trusting your caller ID, because phone numbers can be spoofed.
