Crime & Safety

Person Pretending To Be U.S. Agent Calls Greendale Police

The caller claimed to be from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but folded under questions from Greendale police dispatch.

GREENDALE, WI β€” A robocall reached the Greendale Police Department last week claiming to be from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The caller said a package was intercepted and agents needed to speak about an investigation, according to a Facebook post from the department.

Greendale Police Department's dispatcher agreed to a conversation.

"Our dispatcher, Kim, being the dutiful citizen that she is, pressed 1 to speak with an agent," the department posted.

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The dispatcher asked the "agent" some basic questions but was abruptly hung up on. The department said it got a laugh out of the encounter, and no financial harm was incurred.

"Be like Kimβ€”Ask questions and refuse to give out bank information or send gift cards," the department wrote.

Greendale Police recieved the potentially fraudulent call about an investigation into a "package" as the FCC continues to fight off robocall and scam phone calls. A report by Truecaller shows almost $30 billion was lost to scam callers in the past year.

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Greendale has also been affected by scam calls. Residents are sometimes caught up in scams where a caller asks for bills to be paid over the phone via gift cards. Other scams claim to be from federal agencies, such as the one GPD recieved.

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