Phone scammers posing as police officers
The Dearborn Police Department has become aware of a scam involving people contacting victims by telephone claiming to be law enforcement or IRS agencies collecting debts.
The scammer will try to intimidate the victim by threatening to put him or her in jail if the money is not paid. The scammer will ask the victim to purchase pre-paid gift cards and provide the card information when he or she calls back. Usually, the victim has no knowledge of any debt.
In the recent cases the scammer falsely claims to be a police officer; however, the DPD does not solicit or collect money for unpaid tickets, fees, or any other debts over the phone or via email.
If you receive such a phone call, never give any personal
information to the caller. Always get a call back phone number and never send money to anyone you do not know.
The DPD advises if you feel you have been a victim of such a scam, contact the your local police department.
Police warn of IRS scam-related incidents
The Dearborn Police Department has seen a drastic increase in fraudulent IRS-related incidents and would like to caution residents who may be purchasing a Green Dot, or other prepaid debit card, under threat of prosecution for tax issues.
Multiple incidents have been reported in which victims
received phone calls from individuals claiming to be local law enforcement officers or agents with the IRS.
In each case, the caller claimed that the victim was delinquent in his or her tax payment and instructed the victim to purchase pre-paid debit cards in order to repay the taxes, threatening that the victim would be arrested if he or she failed to comply.
During each of the incidents, the callers have been concealing their phone numbers in order to give the appearance that the phone calls are originating from law enforcement or the IRS.
Police advise that neither the IRS, nor any law enforcement agency, will ever request payment of any kind via telephone. If you receive any suspicious calls instructing you to provide money or personal information over the telephone, you are encouraged to obtain a call back number and contact your local police department in order to verify the legitimacy of the caller.
If you believe that you have been a victim of a similar scam, you are encouraged to contact your local law enforcement agency or the IRS in order to report the incident.