MARSHALL COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) –
You might get a call from a man saying he’s a sergeant with the Moundsville Police Department.
He might say you’ve failed to show up in court when you were due to testify, and that you now owe major fines.
This scam is happening right now.
The scammer instructs the person to go to CVS where there’s a Western Union, and wire him the money. As blatant as this scam sounds, there are a few things that make it seem real.
“They have some type of computer program that you can make phone calls from and it alters the actual phone number, which they’re using the number of the police department so it comes up on people’s caller ID. They found out one of my officer’s names and they used his name. So if the person were to go and search, they would find out that person is a member of our department. But it’s not him making the call.”
Chief Tom Mitchell
Moundsville Police Department
People who have gotten the call say the voice either has an accent, or is robotic.
Mitchell says the scammer tells his would-be victims to call him back on another number when they’ve sent the money. The police have tried calling, but it is not a valid number.
Chief Mitchell urges everyone to be suspicious, and follow the age-old advice your mother gave you–Don’t talk to strangers!
