Phone scammers have been impersonating law enforcement officers across the country in recent years – including in our area. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Lieutenant Warren Gosnell with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office recently sent me a recorded voicemail message.
VOICEMAIL MESSAGE: This is Lieutenant Warren Gosnell. Sorry I missed your call, however …
The problem is, that's not Gosnell – it's a scammer who was trying to extort money from local residents. The real Gosnell told me they've been dealing with these imposter scams for a few years – as has the whole country. Agencies in Albemarle and Augusta County have previously sent out press releases about the scams. Frederick County is seeing a resurgence – about 10 incidents were reported in recent weeks.
WARREN GOSNELL: They'll claim that you have a warrant out. You missed jury duty. You have an outstanding ticket. Anything with a legal nature that some people may find easy to believe that could have happened to them. … They go right from there talking about, "here's what we can do to work this out."
The scammers then tell the victim they can avoid arrest by purchasing a gift card or prepaid card and relaying the card information over the phone. That way the scammer gets the funds through an untraceable, remote transaction. Adding to their disguise – some scammers have been able to "spoof" the sheriff's department's phone number.
GOSNELL: The moment they want any type of payment, no matter how … to avoid incarceration, avoid arrest, or to settle a situation through a law enforcement agency, hang up. If you want to reassure yourself at that point, call the non-emergency number for the agency.
And don't hit redial, either – or you might end up on the fake officer's voicemail. Look up the sheriff or police department's number online and dial it yourself.
