The scammers have a new scam. Town officials issued a warning on Monday that several residents have gotten what are essentially shakedown calls from a caller pretending to be the Verona Police Department.
The scam is a variant of one that has been rolling around the country since last summer. In it, recipients see “Verona Police Dept” in their phone’s caller ID. When they answer, the caller claims to be alerting the recipient to an active arrest warrant. He gives what seems to be a case number and his name and badge number. He may recite the recipient’s previous addresses and phone numbers to make seem that he is legitimate. But the dead giveaway that he is not is that the “officer” then asks for money to resolve the issue.
Town officials are urging residents to not provide any information or money to the caller. “If you receive such a call, disconnect immediately,” it says in its alert. “The police department does not solicit personal information or payments over the phone.”
This type of call is just the tip of the iceberg. I have given up trying to keep track of the bogus number of emails, texts and phone calls promoting various scams. This problem isn’t getting enough attention from our public officials at the national level.