A Juneau man fell for a phone scam last week, and authorities don’t want others to fall into the same trap.
A 72-year-old man reveived a call Friday from someone claiming to be a representative from the Juneau Police Department, according to a JPD release. The caller said the man needed to pay $3,000 for outstanding warrants for his arrest. The 72-year-old then bought gift cards from a retail store and provided the information to the caller.
This is not a new scam, police say, as scammers often pose as someone who is demanding that their target pay to clear up an overdue bill or back taxes or some kind of fine. In this case (and in many other cases), the scammers “spoofed” their number to make it look like it was coming from the JPD main phone number.
The successful scam was not the only attempt from the scammers on Friday. Multiple people called JPD and reported they had received suspicious calls from the department, according to the release.
Police took the opportunity to remind people that JPD would never contact them demanding money like this, nor would any reputable organization. If you get a call that seems suspicious, don’t provide any financial or personal information. If there’s any doubt about the validity of the caller, people should hang up and call JPD at 586-0600.
