HIGH POINT, N.C. — Your neighbors are reporting strange calls from a 'High Point Police Officer', telling them they're about to be arrested unless they pay their citations. Of course, it's not really an HP Police Office. This kind of call knows no city or county boundaries, so don't think it won't happen in your town or county.
"In this particular case, they were giving her things like badge numbers, case numbers, and phone numbers and telling her to write all of them down. The caller was trying to get her worked up in this situation, they told her that she had some citations out for a failure to appear and that if she did not pay them thousands of dollars she could potentially be arrested," said Victoria Ruvio, High Point Police Communications Specialist.
The Facebook post from the High Point Police Department gives more details about the scam call, and the name the scammer was using, which by the way should be familiar, it's the current chief's name, Cheeks.
It's scary to think law enforcement is calling you, that you might have done something wrong or you need to get money to them right away. That's exactly what the scammers want. Refuse to play their game.
"What I would tell people is in those situations, don't be afraid to hang up the phone. If we're trying to get in touch with you or another law enforcement agency is trying to get in touch with you, we're going to get in touch with you. Don't be afraid to just hang up the phone," said Ruvio.
No matter who seems to be calling, whether that be the police, the IRS, your bank, or a utility company, if you have to pay right now to get out of trouble, it's a scam.
Scammers want you to take action right now before you can think about it logically.
If the government official or the company wants you to pay using a gift card, it's always a scam.
If you get a call and you're still worried it's legit, look up the number on your card or online, never use the callback number they give you.