Phone scammers pick the wrong person to mess when police officer answers and toys with them
Phone scammers are the lowest of the low. They prey on the elderly and disabled, in particular, bilking them out of millions of dollars a year.
In 2018 alone, the FTC reports that people lost $55 million to these creeps and people age 60 and older were about five times more likely to report losing money.
Some scammers pretend to be or know a loved one and request money for their well-being while others make empty threats by pretending to be the IRS or police.
So when scammers called Captain Ann Stephens from the Apex Police Department in North Carolina and tried to get her personal information after threatening to arrest her, a colleague flipped on the phone to record it for not only an amusing watch but an important lesson.
The caller identified himself as Officer John Black and said he had a deputy on the way to arrest her. In two separate conversations, she was told there were a whopping 25 charges ready to be filed against her.
While it sounds ridiculous, these threats could sound very real to someone who hasn’t read about the scams – we’ve certainly all heard of people being arrested even though they were innocent.
Of course, Captain Stephens knew this was false. But the second clue for those not in the know is that she was asked for the last 4 digits of her social security number. What kind of question is that?
She refused, of course, along with balking at giving them her address.
“If you have my file on me, you should know what my address is,” she taunted.
But they were pushy and in order to show the lengths these scammers go to in order to get the information they want, she decided to play along just enough to keep them on the phone.
She gave her address as that of the police station.
Of course, if you ever get a similar call, you should hang up immediately and block the number. After all, police don’t call to warn you before they come to arrest you.
Over the course of the calls, she was told she was “guilty of $10 million fraud,” and that her caller was from the Social Security Administration. Black’s “supervisor” Officer Brown also got on the phone with her to make it sound serious. Looks like we have the color police on our hands! Is Office Purple there too?
Stephens can’t help but giggle throughout the call since she knows she’s in no danger and, if anything, they’re only providing more fodder to get themselves caught.
The captain is also asked for her whole social security number and the number of bank accounts she uses, not information you should ever give away over the phone.
When asked if she had shared her social security number with anyone, Stephens snapped back “I certainly didn’t share it with a drug dealer.”
After realizing they were dealing with someone who wasn’t about to play ball, the caller hung up abruptly. But it was just enough time to learn some important lessons.
“If somebody calls and says they’re the Social Security Administration, hang up and call them back yourself. Call the number on the Social Security Administration website or IRS website and talk to them, but none of those agencies will ever ask for your information over the phone so that should be your first sign it’s a scam,” Stephens told ABC11.
Phone scammers also like to get you to say the word “yes” at some point so they can record it and will often ask questions like “can you hear me?” to get you to say it.
Stephens warned people that they should never ever verify their information with someone who has called them out of the blue.
“That information can be found on the web about anywhere so don’t verify it, don’t ever give them personal information.”
It’s a wild world out there, so use caution with all of your personal information.
And be sure to scroll down to hear the now-viral call in which the police captain has a little fun with some scammers.
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