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Phone scammer claims to be police officer

The Fort Dodge Police Department is warning citizens of phone scammers impersonating FDPD officers and demanding money from local residents.

Capt. Ryan Gruenberg with the FDPD said on Wednesday morning, the department received three reports from individuals who received a phone call from a person stating to be a specific Fort Dodge police officer, claiming they had a warrant out for their arrest and demanding monetary payment to “take care of that.”

The scammers would then give the victims instructions on how to get money to them.

“Luckily, the victims never followed through, so the scammers didn’t get anything,” Gruenberg said.

One of the individuals who reported the scam said the scammer left a voicemail and callback number.

“We called that number back and they had a voicemail set up identifying themselves as the officer and we left a message for them to give us a call as we were investigating scam calls,” Gruenberg said. “We don’t suspect that they’ll try to call us back. We hope that at least trying to get ahold of them will stop the calls.”

The FDPD isn’t sure how many of the scam calls have been made in recent days, nor how many victims may have actually sent money to the scammers. Though there were only three reports on Wednesday, the department wanted to make residents aware of the scam, so they put a post on the department’s Facebook page.

“Please be aware that FDPD officers, or any law enforcement officer for that matter, will never demand money or gift cards in person, electronically, or over the phone,” the post warned.

Gruenberg encourages residents who receive a suspicious call from someone claiming to be an officer to hang up and call the Webster County Law Enforcement Center dispatch at 515-573-2323 to verify the caller’s identity.

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