HARTFORD, Conn. — The Hartford Police Department is reminding people that its police officers would never demand money from someone over the phone. This reminder comes as the police department is reporting a recent uptick in complaints of a phone scam impersonating local police.
People have been getting phone calls from individuals claiming to be Hartford police officers, according to Lt. Aaron Boisvert. It's been happening for a while, but more reports of it have been made as of late; five reports of these calls were made to the department in the past week, Boisvert said. Residents who reside outside of the Capital City have reported these scam calls to Hartford police, he added.
The scammers would inform the potential victims they had either missed a court date or had an arrest warrant and would demand payment. They're even using the names of active personnel at the police department, Boisvert said.
"No police department will ever call you and demand money over the phone, meet up for a transaction, it's just not going to happen," Boisvert said in an interview with FOX61.
Hartford police do not know who is behind these scam calls. The best way to deal with them is to hang up, Boisvert said.
"They're very hard to find, they use cryptic numbers from the internet. Many of them come from overseas so, very tricky to get to them," Boisvert said.
Police ask people to report any calls they receive from anyone claiming to be a police officer and demanding money.
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