BEAUMONT, Texas — A new phone call scam is targeting Southeast Texans for their credit card information in exchange for being taken out of a 'police investigation.'
Beaumont Police officers say a scammer is calling people and pretending to be Beaumont Police Chief Jim Singletary.
What makes this call so believable is that the scammer is disguising their real number.
Police say the scammer is asking for your credit card information.
The first red flag is that the real Chief Jim Singletary says he would never ask for that information and neither would any of his officers.
Beaumont Police Department Public Information Officer Haley Morrow says the scammers are able to spoof the caller ID.
"So, your phone may read Beaumont Police Department, 409-832-1234 which is our non-emergency number. That doesn't mean the calls actually coming from us," she said.
Last week, a Beaumont woman kept receiving calls from The Beaumont Police Department's non-emergency line.
"The scammer was identifying himself as Chief Singletary and tried to make the potential victim believe that she was involved in some form of investigation that she was the suspect of," Morrow said.
However, something about the call didn't feel right.
"So, Chief Singletary doesn't investigate cases, he is busy running the police department," she said.
And then, the caller made some demands.
"They said that she needed to provide her credit card information over the phone to fix whatever it was that she was the suspect of," Morrow said.
Police say this is a major red flag.
"Once I answer the phone, if they're asking for that type of information, I just inform them I'm not comfortable with that. Or, I give them my story like 'hold on let me call my uncle, grandpa at the police department and see what's going on' and they hang up on me," ," Nicole Harrison, a Beaumont resident said.
Police say anyone can fall victim to scammers. Especially, the elderly.
"With my mom being 74, what we do is, she don't answer no call from no number that she don't know. And if it's anything they asking her she'll say well let me take your number and I'll have my daughter call you," Harrison said.
Overall, be cautious of the number on your caller ID.
"The scammers are able to use the internet and technology to spoof that. So, we want to just caution everyone to be aware that this could happen," Morrow said.
This is a reminder to never give out any personal information over the phone. This includes social security numbers and credit card information.
If you have received one of these calls, contact the Beaumont Police Department.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.