Evanston Police say they received four reports Monday of scam calls in which a caller claiming to be from the police department told a resident there’s a warrant out for their arrest for missing a jury summons.
The caller then requests $2,500 and instructs victims to go to their bank and obtain cash, buy a Reloadit card at Office Depot, load the money onto the prepaid card, and provide them with the card number so that they can obtain the money from the card.
Police spokesman Perry Polinski says the scammer makes the calls appear to be legitimate by spoofing the caller ID to display 847-866-5000, the non-emergency number of the Evanston Police Department, on the victim’s phone.
Polinski says In one of the reported cases, the caller did receive payment via a Reloadit prepaid card.
If you receive a suspicious call where the caller ID shows the call coming from the Evanston Police Department, Polinski says, ask for the name of the individual calling, hang up, and call the Police Department at 847-866-5000 to confirm the call.
He also asks anyone with information regarding the perpetrator(s) of this fraudulent activity to call the police department or use the Text-A-Tip program where anonymous tips can be submitted. Tips should be sent to CRIMES (274367) and type EPDTIP in the message line along with the information.