JCPD NEWS RELEASE
SUBJECT: | Holiday Phone Scams | DATE: | 12/07/17 | TIME: | 1400 |
PREPARED BY: | Sgt. Mike Adams/550 | APPROVED BY: | Lt. Kevin Peters | ||
On 12/07/2017, the Johnson City Police Department have received several complaints of a phone scam being conducted in the area. There have been two reported methods that the phone solicitors are using. One is the caller will state they are an officer with the Johnson City Police Department and have an arrest warrant for the victim for Failing to Appear for Jury Duty. The caller then states the intended victim can avoid arrest by paying the caller the fine amount or bond amount on the fictitious warrant. These scammers are using a “spoofing” app on their phone so as to show that the call is originating for the City of Johnson City phone number which will appear on the receiver’s caller ID. The second method reported today is from a local business who received a phone call by a male claiming to be with the Johnson City Police Department and was asking for monetary donations. In both of these scamming methods, the caller will instruct the victims to go purchase prepaid debit cards, such as a Green Dot card and put the money on those cards. The caller will then instruct the victim’s to scratch the back of these cards to reveal the card numbers and to read those numbers to the caller over the phone. Once the scammer has those numbers, they can access those funds and remotely remove the funds into another account. It is the intention of the Johnson City Police Department to warn the community to beware of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be members of the Johnson City Police Department and asking for money. It is not a practice of the Johnson City Police Department to solicit donations, nor will we be calling and asking for fines or bonds to be paid over the phone. Another method that has been used in the past is the caller will claim to be with the IRS and tell the intended victim that they owe back income taxes and they need to collect the money in the same way, by prepaid debit cards. If any member of the community receives a call similar to this, please do not send money over the phone or through wire transfers and never give out personal information over the phone. If you have any question as to the authenticity of anyone calling you, claiming to be a police officer within our organization, you can call our records department at 423-434-6125. If you have been a victim of a scam, you may file a report by coming to the Johnson City Police Department and requesting to speak with an officer, or by phoning 911 for an officer to respond to your address.
Lt. Kevin Peters
Johnson City Police Department
Criminal Investigation Division
601 E. Main Street
Johnson City, TN 37605
423-434-6166 (CID Office)
423-434-6119 (Office)
