State Police Warn Public of Phone Scams

The New York State Police issued another warning about telephone scams.

They are currently investigating several instances where callers are fabricating scenarios in an attempt to defraud the victim of money.

A press release on the NYSP website said common fraud scenarios include a caller saying he is from the IRS and that a lawsuit has been filed against the victim for failure to pay taxes.

Another scenario is the caller says he is from a local utility company and the victim must send funds immediately or their utility will be suspended.

A third example is that the caller claims the victim’s family member has been arrested in a foreign country and money must be wired for bail.

In several instances, police said, the perpetrators have used technology to show the calling phone number on the phone’s caller ID is that of an official or governmental agency.

The state police is cautioning the public that, if they receive a suspicious phone call in which a request is made for immediate payment by cash, check, credit card or money wire, they should not provide any personal or banking information.

The person receiving the call should hang up and independently confirm with the agency or family member that the call is not a attempt at fraud.