North Texas scammers claim to be police, thousands of dollars stolen: Plano police

Plano police are warning North Texans about a recent telephone scam where callers are claiming to be police officers.

According to Plano PD, the scammers were also identifying themselves as the department's sergeant, or spoofing the chief's office phone number and the department's non-emergency line, which would display on a victim's caller ID.

Fraudsters are not only spoofing legitimate local phone numbers associated with the police department, they are impersonating real officers in the department, including the city’s top cop Chief Ed Drain and veteran Sgt. James Babb.

“This is kind of personal,” said Babb. “I’ve spent 28 years trying to advocate for victims and trying to prevent crimes and somebody using my name to victimize other people is quite frankly upsetting.”

Police said the scammers would begin the call by using the recipient's name and informing them the call would be recorded. They would claim the recipient had an outstanding debt or had missed a court date, and would demand payment to avoid a warrant out for their arrest.

Police said the scammers would add urgent time limits for sending payments to scare potential victims into sending money.

Crooks will tell their potential victim, “‘This is officer so and so and they will give a badge number which isn’t going to come near to what a badge number will reflect and the phone number that’s showing up on caller ID actually returns back to an internal police department phone number,” said Det. Jerry Minton of Plano PD’s forgery and fraud division. “There’s a warrant out for their arrest and that they need to pay the fine or they’ll be arrested. The red flag is they’re asking for payment in bitcoin or gift cards, such as Apple iTunes.”

The department said several victims came forward, including one who reported sending $9,500 in Bitcoin to the scammers.

Minton wants the public to understand anyone can fall victim.

Scammers cast a wide net using contact information found on the ‘dark web,’ especially people 65 and older.

“None of our victims are stupid people,” he said. “A lot of them very highly educated but they get caught in a moment where they are scared of going to jail. They get caught off guard. The people on the phone are very abrupt very pushy and very abrasive and they will not let you go.”

 One would-be victim walked into police headquarters while still speaking with the alleged police officer.

“They’ll say you can’t hang up the phone. If you do, we will arrest you,” said Minton. “He did not fall for it. He came to the police department, spoke with people here, got confirmed there are no warrants for his arrest.”

There are, however, some instances when area police departments will telephone individuals to inform them of warrants for their arrest, specifically those with unpaid traffic tickets or other non-violent offenses.

In these cases, police will only provide contact information for municipal court.

“We don’t collect any money at all,” said Minton.

Plano police wanted to remind residents to be cautious when answering calls from strangers and provided suggestions on how to avoid falling for similar scams.

• Never wire money or give debit or credit card info to a stranger.
• Do NOT pay someone over the phone using a gift card, prepaid debit card or wire them money.
• ALWAYS do your own investigation. Contact the company, agency or organization the caller is claiming to represent.
• Never give personal or financial information to an unsolicited caller or email.
• Be suspicious of callers who demand information or payment for any reason.
• Regularly update privacy settings for social media sites.

Plano police encouraged potential victims to contact their non-emergency number at 972-424-5678. More information on all currently known scams is available on the city's website.