Law enforcement officials believe that Colorado is one of several states targeted in a foreign-based phone scheme which demands credit card payments from victims.
Attorney General John W. Suthers and Ronald C. Sloan, director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, announced that victims are receiving aggressive and threatening phone calls demanding payments for non-existent debts, according to a news release from the CBI.
The CBI ranks the scheme as the number one fraud currently being attempted on Colorado citizens.
Victims receive calls from callers – reported to have “noticeable foreign accents” – who say they are calling from the “Colorado Department of Law and Investigations.”
No such agency exists.
Neither the Attorney Generals’ Office nor the CBI makes calls of this nature or collects any kind of debt.
The CBI has received 3 to 4 complaints a week and some victims are being called 6 to 8 times within a couple of hours.
Officials in Colorado believe the scam is increasing in areas and say that come callers claim to be from the same fictitious agency when calling victims in other states.
Callers claim that the victim failed to repay a payday or an Internet loan worth several hundred dollars. Victim’s are told to pay over the phone using a credit card account, some callers demand the victim’s Social Security number.
Victims are told that if they do not pay police will be sent to the home. Some have reported being threatened with violence.
“Consumers should never provide personal financial information over the telephone on calls they do not initiate,” Suthers said in statement. “If you are unsure about a call purported to be from a law enforcement agency, ask the caller for call-back information and check it out online or through the phone book. And if a caller is engaging in threatening or abusive calls, hang up.”
