Phone scams are a constant, but mostly you can tell when the call is a scam. Answer a mechanical voice who identifies himself as Jason and someone’s going to try to sell you solar power. Or someone trying to give you a lower rate on your credit cards but won’t tell you what bank he represents. They’re endless. But the first tip that it’s a scam in the Dallas area is someone calling with a spoofed 469 phone number from Grand Prairie.
Now, the Dallas Police Department has become aware of a phone call scam involving individuals claiming to be Dallas Police Officers and utilizing caller ID spoofing. In its alert, DPD wrote:
The suspects are spoofing the South Central Patrol Station’s phone number — 214-671-4500 — so that it appears the victim is receiving a legitimate phone call from the Dallas Police Department. The suspects have used two different ploys to elicit personal information and/or money from the victim. The suspects may tell the victim that he/she is part of a Human Trafficking Investigation and demand the victim’s personal information. The suspects have also demanded a $2,000 ransom for the return of a victim’s family member.
The Dallas Police Department will never call an individual and ask or demand financial payment of any kind. Be aware that these calls could appear to originate from other phone numbers or utilize different ploys to illicit personal information.
If you receive a call like this, please report the incident to www.IC3.gov (FBI-Internet Crime Complaint Center). The majority of these types of scams originate from foreign countries and will be investigated by our federal law enforcement partners.
Or, you could do what I do when I get calls like these, I keep the caller on the phone longer. I figure the longer they’re wasting time with me, the less time they’ll spend scamming someone else for money. Return the family member? No, keep him, I’d tell them. I really never liked him very much , anyway.
— David Taffet
