MONROEVILLE, Pa. — Police in Monroeville are warning of a phone scam where crooks spoof the department’s phone number and impersonate an officer.
In a recent case, the scammer called a local resident and claimed to be collecting bail money for a relative.
That victim ended up providing about $2,000 worth in gift cards, police told Channel 11.
“We will never call you asking for gift cards,” said Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole. “Even if [a scammer] is posing as a bail bond person, they would never do that, they’d want some other form of collateral for bail. So the reality is, never do that, never give anybody codes or gift cards, it’s going to be fraud.”
Cole said before you consider paying up, you should hang up and call the specified agency back via an official number. You can also consider contacting any loved one the scammer may have referenced.
In a Facebook post, Monroeville police had this stern warning: “If anyone is attempting to get money from you, especially if they want the money in gift cards, please DO NOT give them anything! (This includes information as well as money.) HANG UP THE PHONE.”
In addition to hanging up if someone calls asking for money, police advise calling known contact numbers, such as businesses and government institutions like the Internal Revenue Service. That even includes loved ones because scammers can pretend to be or know anyone with very little information.
Police ended the Facebook post by saying: “Technology has enabled us to do many wonderful things, but it also can be used by bad people to do bad things. Keep yourself safe.”
Scammers often utilize internet searches or social media to track down information about you or the name of a loved one to sound legitimate during the bogus call, police said.
These crooks can be hard to track down, and it’s often difficult to get the stolen money back, according to Cole.
“That money is probably going overseas. It’s not staying here locally. It may, but most likely, it’s going overseas. They’re hard to trace, almost impossible to trace, so unless there’s another investigation going on that has tied into that, the odds of getting the money back are very slim,” Cole said.
He encourages anyone else who may have received this scam call to let police know.
“There may be a pattern that we can use,” he said.
You can call 412-856-1111, the same number the scammer spoofed.
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