Denver Police Warn Of Troubling Trend In Phone Scams
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police officials are once again warning of scammers who are using the phone and coercion to separate you from your money. CBS4 listened as Sgt. Steve Kimberly with the Denver Police Fraud Unit played a voicemail he, himself, received from a scammer.
"The investigating team of our department is investigating you and your family," the recording stated.
"We have tried to notify you regarding this issue in the previous six months, but we have never gotten a response from you, so it has been considered as an intentional fraud and a lawsuit has been filed against your name from the United States Government," continued the voicemail.
"You get a call out of the blue, and they tell you some type of emergency is happening or they're threatening you with arrest, and that is not a common occurrence in people's everyday lives, and it knocks them off their game a little bit, and they listen and the longer they are on the phone the more they are reeled in," said Kimberly.
Tax fraud, missing jury duty, or telling you that your grandchild has been in an accident are all common ways scammers try and get you to send money to them through untraceable gift cards or "green dot" cards. Those cards are available at many grocery stores.
Sgt. Mary Prestel with the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit says this common scam has developed a new twist in recent years.
"The caller is now threatening to respond to the victim's home to sexually assault them or they're sending sexually explicit texts or photographs or videos to the victim."
Police are clear to say that the victim has the ultimate power to make this stop by simply hanging up.
They add that you shouldn't trust your caller ID either as technology has made it possible for scammers from all of the world to pretend they are calling you from a local number, even posing as a phone call from the non-emergency line of the Denver Police Department.