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SALT LAKE CITY — Unified Police Department detectives were warning Monday about a phone scam that looks and sounds like it's coming from the Unified Police Department or the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. In some cases, it directs its victims to go to police headquarters to settle outstanding warrants.
"Sometimes they'll say, 'This is lieutenant so-and-so from Unified Police Department,'" Det. Ken Hansen described. "'You've missed jury duty. There's going to be a warrant for your arrest.'"
Hansen said the scammer then instructs the person on the other end of the phone to get pre-paid debit, credit or gift cards to clear the warrant.
That person is then told to call back after obtaining the cards to receive additional instructions, Hansen said.
The scam calls utilize a "spoofed" telephone number, Hansen said, so the call looks like it's coming from police. Caller ID spoofing is illegal under many circumstances, but those services can be found online. The caller enters their number, plus the number they want to call, then picks a number they want to appear on caller ID. The service connects the caller with the destination number.
At least some of the victims have been instructed to show up to the parking lot of Unified Police Department headquarters or the Salt Lake County Jail to pay off their supposed warrants.
Hansen said the elderly and disabled are among the targets of the phone scam.
"They're targeting people, most of the people, who are law-abiding citizens, who have been law-abiding citizens for a long time. When someone calls them about a warrant, that's shocking to them, so they want to take care of it right away," Hansen explained. "That makes it somewhat easy for the scammers to perpetrate against these folks."
Five people have shown up to UPD headquarters since Friday morning because of the scam, according to Hansen.
One person brought $3,300 in gift cards looking to clear the supposed warrant, he said.
David Clayton said the message he received about a missed federal grand jury call seemed so believable, he returned the call and then turned himself into the Salt Lake County Jail because he could not pay the $641 the fake cop was demanding to clear his warrant.
"He told me that I needed to come down to the jail and bring, like, all my prescriptions with me and be ready to be locked up," Clayton said. "I got all my stuff ready to go, we went down to the jail and found out when we got down there that it was a scam, but man, it was scary. I thought for sure I was going to jail that day — that afternoon."
Clayton, who stated he had never been served with jury duty papers, said he was relieved and angry to learn of the scam.
"They used real officers' names, so it sounded even more legit," Clayton said. "It looked real legit — I mean, enough to scare me. It literally knocked the wind out of me and scared me. It looked real, real, real, real."
Police believe the scammers used names of police administrators found online.
Hansen also advised families to caution their senior relatives and friends.
"Unified Police Department and Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office are not going to call and ask you for money — not for a warrant, not for missing jury duty," Hansen said. "That word needs to get out to all the seniors — don't fall for this scam."
