Cheyenne Police Issue Phone Scam Warning

The Cheyenne Police Department is warning Cheyenne residents to be wary of a scam that has been reported recently.

That’s according to a post on the Cheyenne Police Department Facebook page.

The scam features a caller claiming to be a Laramie County Sheriff’s Deputy who says the intended victim owes money for past fines or citations. The caller may leave a message, and when the victim returns the call they get an automated message that makes it sound like they are reaching the sheriff’s office.

The victim is directed to an extension where a bogus deputy sheriff tries to get them to meet somewhere to take care of the supposed fine.

Police are reminding people that law enforcement will never call you up and demand payment for a fine. Fines are paid through the court system.

The post goes on to say:

Please share this information with your friends and loved ones, particularly the elderly, who are often victims of these scams. If you need to verify the identity of a police officer or deputy, please feel free to contact our dispatch center at (307) 637-6525.

The local scam is a variation on a common scam that features phony law enforcement officers demanding immediate payment for supposed fines or citations. That’s one of the most common scams in the United States. But the local scam has the twist of an authentic-sounding automated phone answering system, which is not always a part of such scams.

The local scam also has the unusual feature of the con artist trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the intended victim to supposedly “pay the fine.”

Most phone scammers instruct the victim to pay the alleged fine with a debit card or even an Itunes gift card, with the supposed payment arrangements made over the phone.