New phone SCAMS affecting millions of Americans.
The Scotts Valley Police wants to make our community aware of some new phone scams impacting Americans all over the country and here in Scotts Valley.
Recently, numerous citizens received calls involving the recent IRS scam, where the caller identifies themselves as a member of the IRS and claims the victim owes the IRS money. They claim if the victim does not pay they will call the local police department to come arrest them.
Another scam is called the kidnapping scam where it uses information obtained via social media sites to target victims and then use the information to trick the victim into thinking they have their loved one captive and demand money for their return.
Another scam is the cell phone scam. The victim receives one ring on their cell phone and a number is displayed. The victim curious to know who called redials the number. This unfortunately connects them to expensive pay sites and can cost them money. The area codes for these types of calls are: 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849 and 876.
So you may ask what can we do? If you receive any of these calls hang up and if they continue to call threaten to report them to the police and hang up. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable are the elderly who are often the victims of these scams and with more juveniles having phones and social media sites they too can become victims.
Unfortunately, local law enforcement are unable to find these criminals because they are typically calling from outside of the United States and use untraceable phones.
The Scotts Valley Police Department encourages all of its citizens to please call the department if you believe any of your family are in danger and never send money to anyone who requests it using social media, email or by phone. To learn more visit the Federal Trade Commission website to learn more and educate your family and friends to help prevent them from becoming victims of these scams. visit http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts or
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/scam_alerts.htm
Address/Location
Scotts Valley Police Department
1 Civic Center Dr
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 831-440-5670