The Gilroy Police Department is alerting residents to be aware of a phone scam in the area.
GPD staff have received multiple reports from community members who stated that someone contacted them falsely claiming to be police personnel. In these type of scams, the law enforcement impersonator oftentimes:
• Refers to the community member by name and/or title,
• Is very aggressive,
• Tells the community member there is a warrant for their arrest, and
• Requests payment
Sometimes scams such as these will include spoofing a legitimate police agency phone number and using a real name of a law enforcement officer in an attempt to gain the trust of the victim. They will also leave messages with a callback phone number that is not associated with the police department.
Gilroy Police Department does not call individuals and demand or request money under any circumstances.
Those who have received a fraudulent call are encouraged to disconnect the call without providing any personal information and contact GPD’s non-emergency line at 408.846.0350.
