The Clarkston Police Department has received several reports involving a “you have warrants” scam. The first thing you need to know is anytime someone calls you and demands payment (prepaid gift cards, money, personal information) for a warrant or threatens you with arrest, it’s a scam. Law enforcement or other government agencies will not do this.
Today, scammers called citizens using a spoofed phone number that shows up on caller ID and appears to be a real phone number for Clarkston Police Department. The scammers used the real name of a police officer and told victims there is a warrant for their arrest and they can avoid going to jail by purchasing gift cards totaling $5,000 dollars. These criminals used fear and intimidation as they attempted to sound “official” and demanded immediate action.
Once a citizen purchases gift cards and gives the scammers the numbers from the card, the money is gone. The chance of tracking down the suspect and making an arrest is highly unlikely.
To be clear, law enforcement, including the Clarkston Police Department, will never call and threaten citizens with arrest and demand payment of any kind over the phone. If you answer a scam call, immediately hang up and report it to law enforcement.
