Telephone Scam: Hitting The Mother Lode

Calaveras County, CA – The San Andreas Unit of the CHP wants to alert the public to two scams currently hitting Calaveras County; the main target is seniors.

The unit received two complaints regarding similar telephone scams that “target and scare elderly victims.” The CHP reports that both scams claimed to represent a law enforcement agency and threatened arrest due to bank fraud, money laundering, and other misdeeds. They then request the victim’s social security numbers and other identifying information, as well as bank routing numbers and cash payments, in order to stop the immediate arrest.

Do not take the bait, advises the CHP, adding, “Do not give up your identifying information or social security, bank routing, or credit card numbers.”

These are not new scams and have circulated in the region before, but the CHP recommends the public request a callback number, name, badge number, and case number as the scammer will likely just hang up.