Residents in Burleson, Texas, are being warned of a prevalent phone scam that puts a sinister twist on the authority of law enforcement. According to a social media post from the Burleson Police Department, scammers have been threatening residents with arrest, claiming that their names are on warrants and demanding immediate payment to avoid officers showing up at their homes. The police department unequivocally states that this is a fraudulent tactic, noting that legitimate agencies never threaten arrest over the phone nor demand payment via untraceable methods like gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or payment apps.
In an effort to combat these scams, which particularly target older adults and result in billions in losses each year, the Burleson Police Department is sharing guidance from several real agencies about their communication practices; according to them, the IRS never calls to demand immediate payment or threatens arrest and will not ask for payment in gift cards or via wire, similarly the Social Security agency will not threaten to suspend numbers nor solicit gift card or crypto payments, and when it comes to fines for issues like missed jury duty, neither U.S. Marshals nor the courts will settle those over the phone.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also weighs in with cautions that "government impersonator" calls are a common ruse, with any request for payment in gift card or cryptocurrency being an unmistakable red flag of a scam.
