What Is Spoofing? Dallas Police Department Issues Scam Alert On The Practice
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Police Department is warning people about scammers claiming to be officers and utilizing caller ID spoofing. What is spoofing?
Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity.
The suspects are spoofing the Central Investigative Unit's phone number (214-670-4414) so that it appears the victim is receiving a legitimate phone call from the Dallas Police Department. The suspects may tell the victim that he/she is part of an investigation and demand the victim's personal information.
The Dallas Police Department will never call an individual and ask or demand financial payment of any kind. Be aware that these calls could appear to originate from other phone numbers or utilize different ploys to elicit personal information.
If you receive a call like this, please report the incident. The majority of these types of scams originate from foreign countries and will be investigated by our federal law enforcement partners.
