Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Police Department has received calls in reference to another phone scam. It appears the scammers are now spoofing one of the Yuma Police Department’s numbers. Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity.
Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number. They may also spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust.
The first victim received the first call from someone identifying themselves as an officer with the Social Security Office. The caller told the victim they had warrants for their arrest. The caller identified himself as Victor Hughes and gave the address of 315 N. Washington St, Rockwell Maryland, which is the actual address of the Social Security Administration. A second call came from our non-emergency number, (928) 783-4421, in which the caller identified himself as Hans Marshal, a Police Officer with YPD. He corroborated the story that Victor Hughes told and advised the victim that they needed to pay for the warrants. Both callers had information about the victim’s address, as well as names of family members.
A second scam call received by a different victim was from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Office who asked for the local police department number. The victim gave them the non-emergency number for YPD, (928) 783-4421, and the next call the victim received was from that number.
Please do not fall for these scams. The Yuma Police Department, nor any other government agency, will call you and tell you to send money to pay for an arrest warrant or any other issue.
Please be cautious of calls from numbers you are not familiar with, especially from out of country. If you do answer a call like this, do not give out any personal information.