Arkansas Attorney General warns about scam callers posing as law enforcement

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said there is an uptick in scam callers pretending to represent law enforcement in order to wrangle money from unsuspecting victims.

Griffin said it is a common scam in which the caller claims to be a law enforcement officer and asks for payment to resolve an alleged criminal matter. The attorney general said the caller, via a personal or a pre-recorded call, will ask for money to either avoid a person being charged or enroll the person in rehab.

Griffin said this type of scam is “heinous.”

“Any attempt to defraud consumers is disgusting, but preying on the trust Arkansans have in the law enforcement community is especially heinous,” Griffin said. “I encourage anyone who receives this type of call not to fall for the scam, hang up on the scammer, and report them to my office for investigation.”

Griffin provided tips for consumers to follow:

• Law enforcement agencies and their employees do not call asking people to send money for fees or fines using a wire transfer, a prepaid debit card or gift card.
• Bitcoin is never a legitimate form of payment.
• Don’t assume the caller is who you think it is, even if the Caller ID indicates it is Arkansas State Police or your local police department. Verify the caller’s validity by independently calling the listed number for the agency they represent and asking for the individual who called.
• If asked to meet, only go to the designated police station, and only agree to meet inside the station.
• Do not give any personal information — Social Security number, bank information, driver’s license number, etc. — over the phone.

Griffin said it was common for scammers to blast illegal robocalls using identical messaging and calling patterns with fake caller IDs. Scammers often use the do-not-call registry to find phone numbers, in violation of federal and state laws.

The attorney general asked that anyone reporting a call provide the time and date of the call, caller ID and number and message or description of the call. An online reporting form is available on the attorney general’s website.

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