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Scammers impersonate Lilburn police chief
A Gwinnett County woman narrowly avoids being scammed. A person claiming to be with Lilburn police called and told her she’s wanted for money laundering and drug charges. She even withdrew cash from her account to wire to the would-be scammer.
LILBURN, Ga. - A Gwinnett County woman narrowly avoided getting scammed. A crook, claiming to be with the Lilburn police, called and told her she was wanted for money laundering and drug charges. She even withdrew cash from her account to wire it to the crook. But it was a ruse to try to get the woman’s money.
Lilburn Police Chief Chris Dusik says a guy earlier this month called a woman in his city and told her she was wanted for money laundering and drug trafficking.
"He said they intercepted a package across the border and that it involved narcotics and contained money and drugs," Dusik said.
The man at the other end of the line told the woman to withdraw money from her account.
"They had a warrant for their arrest. That they could take care of if they paid the officer or paid them over the phone," Dusik said.
He sounded official, claiming he was Dusik himself. "They used my name. First, they said Officer Dusik, then they corrected themselves and said Chief Dusik."
The guy even copied the chief’s number right down to the digit. "The worst part about this is they actually cloned the police department’s phone number," Dusik said.
The man told the woman to call the us marshal to pay off her charges. The call was bogus. "Of course, that’s a scam," Dusik said.
The would-be victim withdrew thousands of dollars from her account, according to the police report. But the victim’s daughter got wind of what was going on and called the police. "She made it to the bank, but luckily our officer intercepted her before that happened," Dusik said.
The woman was still on the phone with the scammer when police found her at a check-cashing place. An officer stopped the woman from sending the money. That officer got on the phone with the crook, who eventually hung up.
"Law enforcement will never ask for money over the phone. They will never ever solicit funds in lieu of arrest. If there’s a reason for an arrest, there’ll be an arrest warrant. But you can never pay that off," Dusik said.
Call the police to check with them just to make sure if you get a call from someone threatening to arrest you.