COLORADO SPRINGS — If you receive a call from someone claiming to be with law enforcement and demanding money, you may want to hang up.
The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said this is a scam where criminals pose as police officers to take your money. CSPD said the callers will typically claim you missed jury duty, failed to appear for court, or have a warrant out for your arrest. Then, the scammers will demand payment over the phone to take care of the situation.
CSPD Financial Crimes Unit Sergeant Robert Ferri said criminals will often use a sense of urgency and fear to get what they want.
"They'll demand some sort of payment and they'll claim that it's their bond amount or the amount they need to pay so they don't end up getting arrested or going to jail," said Sgt. Ferri. "They're going to say, 'This is the way to fix it, or we're going to send people to arrest you.'"
Sgt. Ferri said scammers may use technology to make it look like they're calling from a CSPD phone number or use the names of actual CSPD officers.
Over the past 13 months, CSPD said it has seen around 35 cases of these types of scams, costing victims $93,000 in fraudulent payments.
"A lot of these [scams] we're seeing, they're perpetrated by people that are either outside the state or outside the country, so finding those individuals is tough, but... we're taking steps to attempt to do that," said Sgt. Ferri.
CSPD is sharing the following tips to protect yourself from falling victim to this scam:
- Be careful what you post on social media. Scammers can get personal information about you or your family to gain your trust.
- Law enforcement will never ask for payment over the phone, especially not through gift cards or cryptocurrency.
- If the caller says they are from law enforcement, hang up and call the agency's publicly listed phone number to verify the information.
- Do not click on links from texts or emails sent by people you do not know.
To report a scam, contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000.___
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