People posing as Dartmouth police in new scam

Dartmouth police want to warn the public about a scam that has come to their attention.

According to DPD, Dartmouth dispatch has fielded numerous calls this evening from citizens reporting that they received a call from the “Dartmouth Police Department.” According to the information gathered by dispatchers, the telephone number(s) displayed on the reporting parties caller ID’s DO NOT match any numbers associated with our department.

If you receive one of these calls, you SHOULD treat it like any other scam, and we recommend that you do the following:

Report the calls to your local police department

Do not call the number back

Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.
If you answer the phone and the caller – or a recording – asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.

Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with “Yes” or “No.”

Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.

If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company’s or government agency’s website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.

Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.

If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.

Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools they may have and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device to block unwanted calls.

Information on available robocall blocking tools is available at fcc.gov/robocalls.