A person types into a smartphone.
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.
“The scammers have been calling residents and then pretending to be officers,” the police department said via social media, urging people to never disclose 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.
“They then ask you to send back the difference,” police said. “What really happens? The scammer moves your own money from one of your bank accounts to the other (like your Savings to Checking, or vice versa) to make it look like you were refunded.
“Any money you send back to “Amazon” is your money (not an overpayment) — and as soon as you send it out of your account, it becomes theirs.”
In another scam, the caller tells the victim that hackers have gotten access to their account. For protection, victims are told to buy gift cards and share the gift card number and PIN on the back. Once that information is theirs, the money is, too.
“They instruct victims to visit a store and buy Visa Gift Cards,” police said. “Once the scammer gets information to access the cards, the scammer will claim everything has been resolved.”
The Albany Police Department does not conduct business this way and will never accept payments in the form of a gift card, authorities said.
If a person gets a call from a scammer, he or she is urged to immediately hang up the phone and contact the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office at (225) 686-2241 x1.
