TOLEDO, Ohio — The University of Toledo Police Department issued a warning Tuesday about a phone scam targeting families.
The scammers are using spoofed phone numbers to pose as police officers, UTPD said. A spoofed number is one that copies a legitimate phone number, in this case a phone number belonging to law enforcement, to carry out the scam.
Police said the calls are targeting parents and families of University of Toledo students. The scam caller tells families that their child has been detained for underage drinking, trespassing, an outstanding warrant or other criminal reason and will need to pay a fine to avoid jail time.
The scammers may ask for the "fine" to be paid in gift cards or digital currency and may tell the target to not tell anyone about the call.
UTPD reminded families that law enforcement will never call and ask for money, gift cards or digital currency to keep someone out of jail or for any other reason.
Anyone who believes they may have fallen victim to this scam or any other scams should call local law enforcement and report the crime to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at this link.
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