The Albany Police Department is warning the public about a recent scam in which people are trying to get money from victims by posing as law enforcement.
“Scammers have been calling residents and then posing as officers,” the police department said via social media, urging people to never give out their personal information.
According to authorities, a caller will contact a victim about a fake Amazon purchase or say the victim’s account was hacked. The scammer then offers to “refund” the victim for an unauthorized purchase, but “accidentally transfers” more than promised.
“Then they ask you to send the difference,” the police said. “What really happens? The scammer moves your own money from one of your bank accounts to another (such as your checking savings, or vice versa) to make it look like you’ve been reimbursed.
“Any money you send to ‘Amazon’ is your money (not an overpayment) and as soon as you send it from your account, it becomes theirs.”
In another scam, the caller tells the victim that hackers have gained access to their account. To protect themselves, victims are asked to purchase gift cards and share the gift card number and PIN on the back. Once that information is yours, so is the money.
“They ask victims to visit a store and purchase Visa gift cards,” police said. “Once the fraudster gets information to access the cards, the fraudster will claim that everything is solved.”
The Albany Police Department does not do business this way and will never accept payment in the form of a gift card, officials said.
If a person receives a call from a scammer, they are urged to immediately hang up the phone and contact the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office at (225) 686-2241 x1.
