The Newport Beach Police Department is letting the public know about a scam in which the thieves are impersonating real law enforcement officials to demand payment to resolve false citations and warrants.
On Wednesday, police were alerted to the scheme by residents who said they’d received calls from someone who claimed to be a lieutenant in the department.
“The caller claimed they had outstanding citations; the caller then asked them for payment over the phone,” police said on X, formerly Twitter.
In some instances, the callers purport to be current or former NBPD officers and say that the would-be victim’s family member has an active warrant for their arrest, though that can be remedied with a payment over the phone.
The scammers will use the real names of former officers like Lt. Evan Sailor or current officers like Deputy Chief Dave Miner and Lt. Brad Miller, police added.
Residents who called the NBPD directly were informed that no one from the department had called them, and in any case, police would never “contact you to request money,” nor would the NBPD “accept any kind of payment for legitimate services over the phone.”
Instead, instructions for paying a citation will be found on the citation itself. Residents can call the NBPD front desk at 949-644-3681 for more information.
In general, police encouraged the public to consider if “the caller [is] who you think it is” when someone purports to be an official or asks for money.
“Scammers are good at pretended to be someone they’re not,” the NBPD said. “They can be convincing: sometimes manipulating caller ID, using information from social media, or hacking into email accounts, to make it seem more real. They’ll pressure you or play on your emotions to get personal information or money from you.”