On December 25, 2019 the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of an attempted scam of a resident in Palo Alto County. The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office was advised the reporting party had received an automated call on their cell phone. The incoming call displayed the reporting parties own cell phone number. An automated voice advised the reporting party that their Verizon account was past due and service was going to be interrupted if immediate action wasn’t taken. The reporting party was instructed to press 1 to speak to a representative or press 2 to pay the bill by PayPal.
The reporting party did not press any numbers and eventually a person got on the phone and was persistent about the bill being past due advising service to the phone would be interrupted. The reporting party ended the phone call and called their cell phone provider which advised him his bill was current. The scammer continued to call the the reporting party requesting that he pay money through PayPal.
The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind citizens to not disclose any private information such as bank accounts numbers and social security numbers over the telephone to these types of calls. Citizens are encouraged to not talk to these types of people and call their cell phone carrier directly to check on the status of their account. Citizens should also be aware that if you receive these types of calls and the person is requesting you pay with PayPal, iTunes cards or other credit card types, it likely is a scam.