Took the initial hook- Heber City Police called and said I missed a court date

GON

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I travel for work, typically four different states per week, 40 weeks per year, so I was alarmed to be accused of something, as I am a older guy, and not home enough to cause much trouble.

Weather was real nice in Midway, UT yesterday- and I was home. Outside cleaning a car interior in the morning. Phone rings, called id shows Heber City Police department. Heber City boarders Midway, UT.

Guy says he is SGT Schoomaker, and asks me if I am ________, I say yes. He next says I missed a court date last Monday. I said I was not aware of any court date. The line then goes dead.

I call back the number on my caller ID, and get the county 911 dispatch. I tell them I was disconnected from SGT Schoomaker. She asks my name, DOB, and runs me through their system. She says "nothing on you, you were being scammed". She said it is common.

Never had this happen before by someone so smooth. I had people with east Indian accents call me about IRS scams, but never a perfect speaking, confident guy that sounded like he was a Utah local and had proper command presence on the phone.

Can't believe I did not go through proper checks and balances when this guy called..... The thing that threw me off big time is the caller ID saying Heber City PD, and he knew my exact first and last name.
 
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That would scare a lot of people. Up in Canada the scammers now use a computer generated voice before you speak the the real scammers.

What I normally do is act polite and ask for their employee id numbers. If they don't hang-up then if they provide the I'd number, I'll say you are two digits too short or something like that. They panic and hang up. Works like a charm.

I would have done the same, ask the cop for his badge number and then say I'll call your precinct and confirm you are not impersonating a cop.

Some people get called when they are sleeping or when they are busy with other matters and they let their guard down.
 
I travel for work, typically four different states per week, 40 weeks per year, so I was alarmed to be accused of something, as I am a older guy, and not home enough to cause much trouble.

Weather was real nice in Midway, UT yesterday- and I was home. Outside cleaning a car interior in the morning. Phone rings, called id shows Heber City Police department. Heber City boarders Midway, UT.

Guy says he is SGT Schoomaker, and asks me if I am _______, I say yes. He next says I missed a court date last Monday. I said I was not aware of any court date. The line then goes dead.

I call back the number on my caller ID, and get the county 911 dispatch. I tell them I was disconnected from SGT Schoomaker. She asks my name, DOB, and runs me through their system. She says "nothing on you, you were being scammed". She said it is common.

Never had this happen before by someone so smooth. I had people with east Indian accents call me about IRS scams, but never a perfect speaking, confident guy that sounded like he was a Utah local and had proper command presence on the phone.

Can't believe I did not go through proper checks and balances when this guy called..... The thing that threw me off big time is the caller ID saying Heber City PD, and he knew my exact first and last name.
Aw man, we have criminals here at BITOG! Did you try removing your ankle bracelet? 😁
Seriously, I get these type of scam calls all the time. And, it really pi**es me off as to how in Cornbread HE** they got my number in the first place. I also get text message with the same BS!
I called my local police chief once blaming him for a similar call. He stated, "Mr. R********, it wasn't me. You were just scammed." He came by and wrote up a report on it and checked my phone for the number.
I feel your pain. 🤬
 
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At least you verified that you were getting scammed.
My brother used to date a lady that ran a FedEx (or maybe UPS?) shipping store. In other words, people would bring packages there for FedEx to pick up and deliver. One day, a man comes in with a package to ship. She asked him how much it was worth. He replied: "Ten thousand dollars."
She then asked him what was in the package. He again replied: "Ten thousand dollars." Turns out the man had withdrawn that money from his bank and was ready to ship it to a scammer. The FedEx lady told him that he was about to get scammed and the deer-in-the-headlights look eventually was taken off his face as he realized just how much money he had almost lost and just how close he had come to getting it lost.
 
At least you verified that you were getting scammed.
My brother used to date a lady that ran a FedEx (or maybe UPS?) shipping store. In other words, people would bring packages there for FedEx to pick up and deliver. One day, a man comes in with a package to ship. She asked him how much it was worth. He replied: "Ten thousand dollars."
She then asked him what was in the package. He again replied: "Ten thousand dollars." Turns out the man had withdrawn that money from his bank and was ready to ship it to a scammer. The FedEx lady told him that he was about to get scammed and the deer-in-the-headlights look eventually was taken off his face as he realized just how much money he had almost lost and just how close he had come to getting it lost.
Man, that was my $10K! No wonder I never received it! 😁
I get a UPS/FEDEX scam text message almost EVERY FRICKIN' day! And, what gets me is how atrocious their spelling is. :mad:
 
I had a woman try some funny stuff at the grocery store this morning. I was loading a few groceries into my truck. She pulled up and asked if I had a gas can. She claimed to be low on gas and late for church. She was driving a Volvo S60 with a car lot tag on it. My radar went off immediately. I believe that she was trying to set me up for something. There are gas stations 1/2 mile in either direction. I watched her for a little while. She pulled into a parking space for a very short time and later moved to another. I won’t play their game. I should have called the law on her.
 
I had a woman try some funny stuff at the grocery store this morning. I was loading a few groceries into my truck. She pulled up and asked if I had a gas can. She claimed to be low on gas and late for church. She was driving a Volvo S60 with a car lot tag on it. My radar went off immediately. I believe that she was trying to set me up for something. There are gas stations 1/2 mile in either direction. I watched her for a little while. She pulled into a parking space for a very short time and later moved to another. I won’t play their game. I should have called the law on her.
Oh yeah, the outta gas scam, that's pretty common. I like the ones that ask for train fare to get home and sometimes they ask me multiple times. If you don't have train fare to get home, how come they're here every day?
 
Before installing our Call Sentry box when we got calls like that I would just tell them to come get me, I'm armed to the teeth and waiting for them.
 
I travel for work, typically four different states per week, 40 weeks per year, so I was alarmed to be accused of something, as I am a older guy, and not home enough to cause much trouble.

Weather was real nice in Midway, UT yesterday- and I was home. Outside cleaning a car interior in the morning. Phone rings, called id shows Heber City Police department. Heber City boarders Midway, UT.

Guy says he is SGT Schoomaker, and asks me if I am George Nixon, I say yes. He next says I missed a court date last Monday. I said I was not aware of any court date. The line then goes dead.

I call back the number on my caller ID, and get the county 911 dispatch. I tell them I was disconnected from SGT Schoomaker. She asks my name, DOB, and runs me through their system. She says "nothing on you, you were being scammed". She said it is common.

Never had this happen before by someone so smooth. I had people with east Indian accents call me about IRS scams, but never a perfect speaking, confident guy that sounded like he was a Utah local and had proper command presence on the phone.

Can't believe I did not go through proper checks and balances when this guy called..... The thing that threw me off big time is the caller ID saying Heber City PD, and he knew my exact first and last name.
What is weird is that he hung up when you said you didn't know of a court date... Doesn't seem like a very good scam... :)
 
At least you verified that you were getting scammed.
My brother used to date a lady that ran a FedEx (or maybe UPS?) shipping store. In other words, people would bring packages there for FedEx to pick up and deliver. One day, a man comes in with a package to ship. She asked him how much it was worth. He replied: "Ten thousand dollars."
She then asked him what was in the package. He again replied: "Ten thousand dollars." Turns out the man had withdrawn that money from his bank and was ready to ship it to a scammer. The FedEx lady told him that he was about to get scammed and the deer-in-the-headlights look eventually was taken off his face as he realized just how much money he had almost lost and just how close he had come to getting it lost.
I know a guy that fell for that. But he sent $10 k in WM gift cards to Nigeria to settle his alleged IRS back fees. I try to avoid that guy as much as possible now.
 
So I wonder how that info got out; seems you just posted your name, town and the fact you are away for most of the year. JMO
SG,

You bring up a good point and makes me think deeper about how my name was selected.

I am in the military, and not a residence of Utah (my domicile/ residency is Alaska). My cell area code is not a Utah area code (call was to my cell). And for the scammer to know that Midway UT does not have a police department, but the neighboring city of Heber does, really tughtens my shot group of who this could be. My cell phone does not tie to my residential address, except for utilities.

My guess is a scammer received my information from one of the following:

Comcast
Dominion Energy
Heber water utility (supplies water to our home)
Heber disposal (supplies garbage pickup)

That's all I can think of, that would know the local area. I don't think scammers out of Miami, New York City, etc... know that Midway, UT does not have a police department, but the city of Heber next door does.
 
This scam has been highly publicized here in Salt Lake City-among other scams. Just read a story about how despite using technology AGAINST robo calls they expect the volume to pick up on these calls when things start to open back up. Including places where theses scammers "work".

The latest scam is where they have a (recording of a) child in the back ground crying-and then tell you if you want your son/daughter/grandchild released to send them money via online.

YES-some have already been scammed on this one.
 
Caller ID is readily spoofed apparently. I think it can also be blocked.

I wonder what they actually wanted, or if just a confirmation that it was you...
 
It happens.

Otherwise savvy neighbors almost got taken in by a scammer saying that their son was in an accident where he was at fault and the caller claimed he was a lawyer assigned to the case and needed money to get the defense process going. Coincidentally, the son called them to tell them he was running late as they were getting ready to go to the bank, so they didn't have a chance to leave the house to get the money -- scam averted.

The scary part is that the scammer knew that the son was on the road and was in the area where the alleged 'accident' happened at the time the scam call was placed.
 
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