Police investigate callers impersonating law enforcement officials
By Mary Alice Royse
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CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — The Clarksville Police Department reported Wednesday that they had received several reports of false pretense or “scams” over the last several months.
Several businesses and individuals told CPD officials that they had received phone calls, text messages, or even Facebook messages from an individual claiming themselves as law enforcement or some other type of government official.
Officials reported that the call would give a story of some ongoing investigation or possibly have a warrant out for their arrest. They then would say that to avoid going to jail. They would need to pay some type of fine or fee.
Authorities said one caller told the clerk to take all the money from the business register and put the money on a “Green Dot” card.
Another individual told CPD officers that the caller claimed they had won emergency funds from a global grant and was asked to send a copy of their driver’s license. Once they had done that, the caller requested that the individual purchase two Apple gift cards for $500 each and send pictures of the back with the security code made visible.
Another call recently involved a woman being told to pay a fine due to missing jury duty, CPD said. She then used “Caller ID spoofing,” which is the practice of falsifying the information about an incoming call on the receiver’s caller ID display.
Authorities said scammers could and will manipulate the caller ID so that the call appears to be coming from a local or well-known phone number, making it more likely to be trusted or answered.
CPD reminded the public not to give out any information over the phone and said that law enforcement would never accept money to resolve a warrant.
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