Bolingbrook Police Give Tips On How To Avoid Phone Scams

BOLINGBROOK, IL — There is a current trend in reported phone scams, and the Bolingbrook Police Department would like to provide tips to residents on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

Scammers are calling residents from spoofed, or cloned phone numbers pretending to represent local police departments or other government agencies, the department said. These calls show up on caller ID as real phone numbers used by police departments and government agencies.

The scammers often identify themselves as a police officer or government official and tell you to make an immediate payment to avoid being arrested. They will ask you to make payment by providing a credit card number, bank account information, buying gift cards, or by paying them in bitcoin.

Police departments and government agencies will not call you to threaten you with arrest if you do not make immediate payment by these means, the department said. If you receive a call like this, you should:

• Not comply with any request
• Hang up immediately
• Contact the police department at 630-226-8600 to verify the call

Other ways to protect yourself from scams:

• If at any time during a phone call you think you’re being scammed, hang up, locate a valid number for who you believe called you, and then verify that phone call
• Never open links texted to you from unknown numbers or email addresses
• Never make payments to anyone asking you to buy gift cards, or deposit money into a bitcoin ATM

If you do become the victim of a scam, contact the Bolingbrook Police Department at 630-226-8660 to file a report.