CMPD: Spoofing On The Rise In Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, NC — CMPD sent out an alert Friday saying more people are getting spoofing calls.
Spoofing is when a scammer uses a local phone number or the phone number of someone you know to get you to pick up.
Then, they attempt to get your money.
“It’s scary,” said Jon Hoyle. “I’ll say something to the effect of, ‘Is there a lawyer on your staff that I can talk to?’ and a lot of times they hang up.”
The scammers say you owe money and want your credit card number.
“The oddest one I’ve gotten was something like a payday loan, which is illegal in North Carolina,” said Hoyle
Hoyle is an insurance broker and financial adviser. His clients started to call for help.
“I mean, I would say I get two to three of those a month,” said Hoyle. “Yeah. It’s heavy.”
David Royal video chatted me after a scammer called him pretending to be Duke Energy.
“We have things like this happen once in a while, but it’s never this sophisticated,” said Royal.
When he called back, it even had a Duke recording.
“I went, ‘Oh, well it is Duke Power,” said Royal. Nearly 30 minutes later, he recognized the scam because the caller wanted him to go buy a prepaid credit card to pay nearly $900.
“I thought, ‘Oh! this is ridiculous.'”
He called Duke Energy. They said they will not call you if you’re going to disconnect your power.
Some scammers pretend to be Medicare to get your social security number.
They can disguise their number to make it look like the sheriff’s office, or any agency is calling you.
“I have not seen anything this elaborate,” said Royal.
CMPD says a Russian scammer targeted one of their officers.
The con artists are often overseas, so regulations make it difficult for police to stop it.
In July, Attorney General Josh Stein joined 29 other attorneys general in urging the FCC to enact rules that would allow telephone providers to block several types of spoofed calls.
Police warn you not to give out money on the phone.
You can get your number put on do not call lists. Click here to find out how.
You can always hang up and call the number listed in the phone book for the agency.
You can report this crime by clicking on this link.
You can also file a complaint by clicking this link.
