Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
An anti-cybercrime community alerting the public.

Fake or Spoofed 911 Emergency Dispatcher Telephone Calls from Scammers

Residents are ask to beware of fake or spoofed 911 telephone emergency dispatcher calls. They are ask to terminate calls that appear as if they came from emergency telephone dispatcher number: '911', where the callers claim that they own taxes, there is a warrant out for their arrest, and they need to call a telephone number in order to make payment or else legal actions will be take against them. The calls are not made by government officials or the police, but by scammers, who have found a new way of spoofing telephone calls, to make them appear as if they coming from the emergency dispatchers telephone number: 911.

Advertisements

Note: Scammers may also spoofed other telephone numbers.

The scammers who make the fake calls will ask for payments via pre-paid debit cards, Western Union, MoneyGram or other money transfer services over the telephone that will not allow the victims to get their money back.

So, residents are ask to beware of phone calls where the callers claim that they are police officers or government officials, and threatens arrest or legal action if money is not immediately paid over the phone. Not because the caller's number appears on their caller ID as 911, necessarily means that it came from the legitimate emergency dispatcher telephone number: 911.

Importantly, the government will never call from 911 or other telephone numbers asking for payments over the telephone. Most of the fake calls that have been reported so far, the callers claim that the potential victims should contact the Attorney General’s Office or a warrant will be issued for their arrest.

We are advising people who have received the fake 911 or other fake government agency calls, where the callers ask for payments, to not follow the instructions by the callers and do not call the telephone numbers the callers ask them to call, even out of curiosity. Calling the fake numbers, will alert the scammers that their numbers are valid and they will continue to receive more fraudulent telephone calls.

Check the comment section for additional information, or share what you know or ask a question about this article, by clicking the 'View or Write Comment' button below.

Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.

Share this article with others.
Advertisements
Write / View Comments (0)
View on Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
Help Maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA)