Longmont police took two reports on Wednesday of scammers calling residents and pretending to be law enforcement officers in an effort to collect money.
“Basically it’s a nationwide scam,” Longmont Police Service Technician Robert Goodard said. “It’s definitely hitting Longmont.”
Goodard said the gist of the scam involves a caller — who claims to be from the warrants division — telling a person that he or she has an unpaid ticket or a missed court date which has resulted in an arrest warrant.
Sometimes the callers are able to mask the source of their number so it appears they are calling from a law enforcement agency, although that was not the case in the most recent incidents.
In the two Longmont cases, one of the callers claimed to be from an unnamed sheriff’s office and the second from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Goodard said.
He said the caller will say that a person can pay off the warrant with a Green Dot Moneypak card if the person gives the caller the number on the card over the phone.
“The cards say in the fine print not to give the number out to anyone but most people don’t take the time to read them,” Goodard said. “If someone calls claiming to be from law enforcement or a business or anyone and asks you to send money over the phone, question the validity of it.”
Goodard said an officer might contact a person by phone to tell them they have a warrant but would never ask money over the phone. A person could also get a letter from court telling them they have a warrant and their bond amount, but would ask for them to take care of any payment in person.
If a person receives a call asking for money over the phone, he or she should hang up and call their local law enforcement agency. If the caller persists, tell them that you know it’s a scam and hang up.
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is also reporting a similar scam where callers are claiming the person called has a warrant for failing to pay a photo radar ticket.
A news release said no agency in Weld County uses photo radar and anyone who receives such a call should ask the caller for their name, badge number and agency and advise the caller that you will be contacting the agency directly.
Weld Count law enforcement officers do not contact residents by phone, email, or mail to obtain funds for a traffic fine.
John Bear: 303-684-5212, bearj@timescall.com or twitter.com/johnbearwithme
