MILWAUKEE — State agencies are warning of a potential spoofing call going around. Spoofing is when contact information, like caller ID or an email address, is falsified to trick people into trusting the caller or sender.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the Department of Administration (DOA), starting late last week, several reports came in from people saying the Wisconsin State Police dispatch number called them.
"You can't trust caller ID because there is technology out there for scammers to misrepresent that information," Michelle Reinen with DATCP said.
"The callers were impersonating police officers. During the call, the scammers would indicate there was a warrant out for the person's arrest and they should not contact local authorities regarding the phone call, and then the caller demanded payment," she continued.
Reinen said these impersonators are using fake warrants to threaten or scare people into giving them money.
"No law enforcement authority, especially the Wisconsin State Capitol Police, will not make calls to threaten individuals with warrants for arrest. They'll never demand payment over the phone," Reinen explained.
Reinen said big companies won't do that either. Your bank, the IRS, Medicare, none of those agencies will call you and ask you to verify your personal or financial information over the phone. However, there is some advice DATCP has for this specific spoof going around.
"If a consumer is ever concerned or worried that there is a warrant out for their arrest, they should contact local law enforcement officials," Reinen said.
Reinen said the best way to do that, is to get a verified phone number from your local law enforcement website.
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