Robocall scam in which scammers pose as police officers has hit hundreds of people in Virginia and DC – NBC4 Washington

Does this sound familiar? Your phone rings and the number is unknown. You answer the call, just in case, and:

“The following is a recorded message from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office,” says the robotic voice on the other end.

The location of the department or the words in the call may vary — some calls claim to be from DC, while others begin with something like, “Good afternoon, this is Sergeant Bill Glenn of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department Civil Services Division” — but the basics are the same.

If you have received such a call, the real Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office wants you to know that it is not them – it is a scam.

“The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has worked so hard to maintain the trust of our community,” said Sergeant Gun Lee of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. “And for bad actors to use our name and our brand to commit this crime is completely unacceptable.”

Investigators say these fake robocalls began earlier this week and warn that the criminals are casting a wide net. In the DC scam, for example, a fake officer tells the recipient to report to police headquarters or face arrest.

“It’s a very fast-moving storm,” Lee said.

Within 24 hours of Tuesday afternoon, when the robocalls began, the real Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office received hundreds of reports from residents.

And even Lee said the calls sounded “very authentic.”

“Our facility is required by law to contact you today regarding a problem that has arisen that requires your immediate attention. Please call as soon as you are able,” one of the messages says.

While Lee says the calls may sound legitimate, they are the opposite. The criminals urge potential victims to call a fake number or visit a fake website to pay them with cryptocurrency gift cards or mobile apps.

“The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office will never ask our community for payment, especially in cryptocurrency, so that’s clue number one,” Lee said.

Washington DC police told News4 they would never ask you for money, banking information, or your social security number.

Lee says the sheriff’s office knows of at least one person who lost hundreds of dollars in the scam, but it’s possible there are more victims.

According to Lee, financial and cybercrime investigators are working around the clock to disable the fake phone numbers and websites.

“We’ve seen this kind of approach before, on a much smaller scale, but this is a bit more complex,” Lee said.

Police are urging citizens to be cautious and come forward. Anyone can become a victim, so if you receive a similar call, police are asking you to report it as soon as possible.

“If you are a victim of this scam, we need to hear from you immediately because one victim is one too many,” Lee said.