Law enforcement scam prompts warning

Local police are warning the public of an increase in reports of a scam involving a caller claiming to be a member of law enforcement — and officers are sharing an audio file so that people are better prepared if they should get a call.

In the scams, the caller first identifies himself as a local official — an officer with the Vancouver Police Department, a deputy with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, or as being affiliated with another local agency, Vancouver police Lt. Troy Price said. The scammer then goes into a long, jargon-filled explanation of a scenario that ultimately ends with the caller saying that to stop some pending legal action, the person needs to send money, Price said.

Two of these kinds of scams have been reported this week in Clark County, and a third report came to Price’s attention through a former colleague, Ed Hewitt, a retired detective who investigated fraud at the Vancouver Police Department but who now lives in Idaho.

“He actually had the presence of mind to record it,” Price said. “The (scammer) sounds pretty convincing.”

So now Price is sharing the audio file with the public in hopes that it will deter people from falling victim to the scams. The audio file can be heard at www.columbian.com.

“I hate to see people lose money because of these scams,” Price said. “None of us (police officers) are going to call and ask for money or a credit card number over the phone.”

If anyone gets a call from a person who identifies himself as a police officer and are unsure whether it’s a scam, Price said that they should ask for the officer’s name, hang up and then call the agency to verify that the person works there.