The Virginia Tech Police Department (VTPD) is aware of a continuing trend of scams in our community. VTPD has recently received multiple reports about a law enforcement impersonation scam. The scammers call and claim to be members of law enforcement or another government agency. Many of these scammers utilize “spoofed” phone numbers that come back listed to the government agency with which the caller claims to be affiliated.  These numbers are easily found on the internet and are used to falsify the number on the Caller ID to hide the caller’s true identity.

During some of these calls, the victims are told that they owe the government money and, if they are unable to pay the amount while still on the phone, they will be arrested.  The callers instruct the victims to purchase various gift cards and provide the numbers to them. After obtaining the gift card numbers, the callers usually hang up without giving any further instructions. Other callers will request money be transferred via third party financial apps.

In other versions of this scam, scammers pretend to be law enforcement and tell victims that their loved one is in jail. The victim is told to send money in order to bail their loved one out of jail or in order to avoid them being sent to jail.  The victim is told to pay via an electronic payment method or credit card. 

Remember:
  • No law enforcement or other government agency in the United States, including VTPD, will ever call you on the phone and threaten you with arrest if you do not immediately send them money, provide them with the number of a gift card, or transfer money into a bitcoin account.
  • No law enforcement or other government agency will ever contact you and demand that you pay money over the phone to have someone released from jail or to avoid jail. If you want to verify if someone is currently incarcerated, you can visit vinelink.com to check their status.
  • If you are unsure of who you are talking with, ask for contact information and advise you will call back. Compare names and phone numbers if they are provided with publicly available information for the agency being represented. If someone claims to be VTPD, you can call 540-231-6411 to verify if the call is a scam.

Protect Yourself
Scammers frequently employ aggressive tactics and urgency to manipulate victims. Protect yourself by staying informed about common scams affecting the Virginia Tech community. Find more safety tips and information at police.vt.edu/scams. To verify suspicious contacts or potential scams, reach out to the Virginia Tech Police Department at 540-382-4343 or email vtpolice@vt.edu.

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