Bizarre Phone Scam Targets Vienna Resident

VIENNA, VA—Scam calls circulating often involve the caller threatening arrest if the victim doesn't pay. But in a strange new case, police showed up to a Vienna resident's home after he received a scam call that day.

On Wednesday around 12:30 p.m., Vienna Police were alerted to a call from a man saying he assaulted his wife and she needed medical attention. When they showed up at the residence in the 200 Block Locust Street SW, they found no assault had taken place. The resident told authorities family members had received similar suspicious calls about an assault.

But even stranger was that the resident himself received a scam call that same day. The caller claimed to be from the IRS and threatened arrest unless he made a payment. Police say it was a scam call but do not know if the calls were related.

According to the Better Business Bureau's scam tracker, 2,144 of these debt collection-type scams have been reported across the U.S. this year. The organization offers the following tips to avoid these types of scams:

• Do not answer calls from numbers you do not recognize. If it's a legitimate contact, they will leave a message. Even if a scammer leaves a message, this will give you time to think about what is being asked of you.
• Ask for a validation notice. In the U.S. and most of Canada, debt collectors are required by law to provide this information in writing. The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, and a statement of your rights. If the self-proclaimed collector won't provide the information, hang up.
• If you do owe money and aren’t sure if the caller is real, ask for their name, company, street address, and telephone number.
• Do not provide any bank account, credit card, or other personally identifiable information over the phone. If the collector is legitimate, they should have details on the accounts in question.

Other incidents in this week's Vienna crime report include:

Destruction of Property 17-010720
100 Block of Courthouse Road SW
December 5 11:22 a.m.
A resident reported that someone damaged his mailbox.

Grand Larceny 17-010799
100 Block of James Drive SW
Between December 7 8:00 p.m. and December 8 7:40 a.m.
A hunting weapon was stolen from an unsecured vehicle.

Fraud 17-010811

Tequila Grande Restaurant
444 Maple Avenue West
December 8 between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Two subjects left the restaurant without paying for their meal.

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