Concord Police Investigating Phone Scam, Warn Residents

The Concord Police Department wants to alert the public about a phone scam that wasbrreported over the weekend.

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AbrConcord resident reported that on March 5 she was contacted by a male subjectbrclaiming to be an officer from the Keene, NH Police Department.  The suspect (“officer”) told the complainantbrthat there was a warrant for her arrest. According to the suspect, the warrantbrwas issued as a result of a complaint filed by a past-employer.

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Thebrsuspect told the complainant that he would close the warrant if she sent him abrquantity of cash. The phone number that showed on the complainant’s caller IDbrwas “603-357-9815” (which is the number to the Keene, NH Police Department.)

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Thebrcomplainant sent a quantity of cash via MoneyGram to a “pre-paid” credit card. Thebrcomplainant said that after she sent the first quantity of money to thebr“officer” he told her she would have to send additional money for him to “closebrthe warrant”. The complainant became suspicious and researched the numberbr“603-357-9815”. She confirmed this number was a number for the Keene PolicebrDepartment.  She sent additional moneybrhowever eventually called Keene PD direct. They informed her that they thatbrthis was a scam and that they would never solicit cash to “close” a warrant.

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Investigatorsbrbelieve the suspect used some type of “spoofing” technology to disguise hisbrtrue phone number as that of Keene PD’s.

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ThebrKeene, NH Police Department had received several complaints about this type ofbrscam and issued a press release this past January (2015).

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ConcordbrPD is asking that if any member of the public receives a similar type of callbrto notify the local police department directly. The police want the public tobrknow that at no time will any police department “close out” a warrant in thisbrmanner. The police also want the public to be aware of scams that employ thebruse of such technology as “spoofing” which can disguise phone numbers andbrInternet addresses. 

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Somebrsimple steps to avoid getting scammed as provided by the New Hampshire AttorneybrGeneral’s Consumer Protection are:

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• Unsolicitedbr calls and email requesting money are almost always a scam

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• Neverbr provide personal information to unknown people.

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• Neverbr wire money to people you do not know.

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• Don’tbr trust caller ID to verify someone identity.  Caller IDs are easilybr manipulated to deceive.  

brbrConcord Police ask that anyone with informationbrregarding this matter to please call them at (603) 225-8600 or the ConcordbrRegional Crimeline at (603) 226-3100. They can also contact the New HampshirebrAttorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at 271-3643 or www.doj.nh.gov.