AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Amarillo Police Department offered descriptions of a list of common phone scams after citizens recently reported receiving strange calls from official city phone numbers.
Police noted that the city phone numbers have likely been used by scammers via “spoofing,” or altering the caller ID related to a phone number in order to masquerade as someone else.
“Recently we have had many people being called from what looks like City of Amarillo phone numbers. Some of the most popular scams that we hear about are Social Security, IRS, Xcel Energy, Microsoft, Craigslist, the grandparent scam and law enforcement officers claiming that you have a warrant or that a family member has been arrested and needs to be bailed out of jail,” said the police department, “The FTC reports that in 2020 Americans lost $29.8 billion to phone scams alone.”
The Social Security Administration
Police reminded that the Social Security Administration will never threaten a person, suspend a social security number, demand immediate payment, or require payments with cash, gift card, pre-paid debit card, or wire transfer.
Individuals should never give their Social Security Number out to anyone that they do not know or trust.
The IRS and the Amarillo Police Department
The Amarillo Police Department said that it will not call someone to enforce outstanding…
