Imagine picking up the phone and the person on the other end tells you there’s a warrant out for your arrest. That’s the latest scam making its way around the Hub City.
But, what if you called back and someone picked up saying he was an officer with the local police department? Well, that’s what happened to one EverythingLubbock.com reader.
“You have a warrant out for your arrest,” the voicemail said.
A voicemail that no one wants to receive, but thankfully the voicemail sort of sounds like a scam. When the number was called back, the person picked up answered with “Hi, this is Officer Sean Davis.”
It ended up being a scam attempt, but it all sounded pretty real.
EverythingLubbock.com tried calling the same number, but this time, “Officer Sean Davis” didn’t answer. Instead, we got the “IRS.”
When we called again, a different opening was used to answer the phone.
Three separate calls, three separate answers … All the same phone number.
Greg Linder of the Better Business Bureau said they receive 15 to 20 calls about phone scams a day.
“It makes sense that they’d probably being doing multiple things at once,” Linder said about the same scam company using multiple scams in one day. The BBB said they weren’t surprised.
“This week we’re doing IRS, this week we’re doing grandparents, this week we’re doing sheriff’s department. In this situation apparently, they had too many irons in the fire that day,” he said.
He said with all scams, think about what the caller is saying and do not panic.
“You have to keep in mind with scammers, they are looking to elicit an emotional response from you,” he said. “When you realize it’s a scam, walk away from it. The best approach is no contact.”
If you receive a scam phone call, you’re encouraged to call the Better Business Bureau.
