FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The Fort Wayne Police is warning of a new scam. This one has the scammer posing as a police officer on a phone call.
A person claiming to be an FWPD officer will be on the other end of a call from (260) 281-8450.
Police say the caller even uses a fake badge number and says a judge has ordered bench warrants for “Failure to Appear in Federal court and Avoidance of Civic Duty (Jury Duty)”.
Following that, another call will come from (260) 427-1222, which is FWPD’s non-emergency number. The scammer spoofs that number to look legitimate.
The scammer then asks for money right away to pay for the bond of the warrants. Police say people who got the calls told them that it sounds believable.
The FWPD is reminding that an officer will never call you to request money.
If you get a potentially fake call from (260) 427-1222 do not give any information. Police say to hang up and call the number back immediately to verify its credibility, Webb said.
The Fort Wayne Police Department released the following:
The Fort Wayne Police Department has been made aware of a recent SCAM lately that is going around:
A person, claiming to be a Fort Wayne Police Officer, using a bogus badge number calls an unsuspected citizen from 260-281-8450. This person, claiming to be an officer, states that a judge (uses a real judges names) has ordered Bench Warrants for the unsuspected citizen for Failure to Appear in Federal court and Avoidance of Civic Duty (Jury Duty). When the fake officer is questioned he hangs up and spoofs the Fort Wayne Police Department’s non-emergency number 260-427-1222 so it appears they are calling back from the FWPD.
The scammer then requests money to pay for the bond of the Bench Warrants. The Phony officer sounds believable and stresses that the money is needed right away! The scammer offers multiple avenues of payment to take care of the bond.
A Police Officer will never contact you over the phone and request money!
If you suspect you are being Scammed, don’t give money or your personnel information away. If you receive a potential spoof call from the non-emergency number 260-427-1222; hang up and call the number back immediately to verify it’s credibility.
