COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) – The Columbus Police Department is warning community members about “an escalating impersonator scam,” and offers tips on how to decipher if a call is legitimate or a scam.
CPD says that scammers have recently been posing as officers with the police department and other nearby law enforcement agencies.
The incidents involve the scammer claiming to people that they have missed jury duty or have warrants out for their arrest. To solve the issue, scammers are requesting individuals to send payments in cash or in the form of gift cards.
CPD provided the following “key points” to remember when receiving a call from an unknown number:
- Legitimate law enforcement will never contact you about jury duty or warrants via call, text, or email.
- Payments are never handled over the phone or through in-person meetings.
- Law enforcement will not request payments via platforms like Apple Pay, Cashapp, Venmo, Paypal, gift cards,or bitcoin.
Columbus Police noted that scammers usually use phone number spoofing to mimic law enforcement contacts. If anyone receives a scam-like call, text, or email, CPD advises to hang up immediately and verify the authenticity of the phone number or email address by directly contacting the relevant law enforcement agency.