Wrangell police warn about scam calls

The Wrangell Police Department is warning the public about phone calls from scammers pretending to be with the Social Security Administration. The callers tell people the government has a warrant for their arrest.

Police departments statewide reported a rash of such calls last week, including departments in Juneau, Anchorage, Homer and Unalaska.

While some scammers claimed to represent the Social Security Administration, others said they were with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Wrangell police said they received several reports of scam calls last week. Social Security will not contact someone by phone, police said, and personal information should not be given to the caller.

Police Chief Tom Radke said he did not have an exact number of how many scam calls community members received, but there were several - and he warned people to be aware of other, similar phone scams.

"The IRS never calls you, they only send mail,"Radke said. "The government doesn't usually call you for money, or bail or anything. For a while, scammers were calling older people and saying, 'Hi grandma, I'm in jail,'"looking for money.

If anyone is ever in doubt about a strange phone call, they should contact the police, Radke said Monday.

 

Reader Comments(0)