FITCHBURG, Wis. — Fitchburg police are investigating after receiving at least two calls Saturday from local mental health providers reporting they had suspicious phone calls from someone who identified themselves as a member of the Fitchburg Police Department.
According to an incident report, the scam callers used technology to spoof the main police department number.
The report said the recipients of the calls noticed the calls were suspicious and hung up; it’s the second time in the last two months mental health providers received this type of spam call.
Police said it is not believed the scammers were seeking any type of medical information. Instead, the calls were consistent with a phone scam where callers say the recipient has an arrest warrant or failed to appear for a court case. Authorities said in one call Saturday, the scammer provided the recipient with a former address and indicated officers were coming to that old address.
Police said scam calls are just one of the many common scams going around right now, especially with the nearing tax season.
Scams can be prevented by trusting your instincts, never giving out personal information over the phone, not opening e-mails from unknown senders, and hanging up the phone if it is believed the call is a scam.
If someone is looking to report fraud, a scam or a bad business practice to the FTC, they can do it here.
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