ISP warning of phone scam involving people posing as troopers

Indiana State Police officials are sounding the alarm over a new phone scam involving their own agency.

The Indianapolis state police post has recently heard several complaints from people who received phone calls from scammers posing as ISP troopers. The caller ID for the scam calls say “Indiana State Police Post 52” and have the Indianapolis post’s phone number — 317-899-8577, according to an ISP news release.

However, the calls are not from ISP and are from scammers, officials say.

The scammers identify themselves as police officers and tell the recipients there is a warrant for their arrest. They try to obtain personal information and request financial restitution to take care of the warrant, officials say.

The Indianapolis Post is not alone in this matter, as other ISP posts have had similar incidents happen. Other scams have ranged from scammers telling recipients their identity has been stolen, selling insurance or attempts to raise money for false charities, according to the news release.

Because of the scams, ISP officials are reminding Hoosiers that these types of phone scammers are pervasive and technically savvy. They will often play on emotions and fears to get to residents’ money, the news release says.

The easiest way for Hoosiers to protect themselves from being scammed over the phone is either to ignore unsolicited calls from unknown callers or hang up when something doesn’t seem right. People should never provide any information over the phone to an unknown caller regarding their personal identity, social security number, bank accounts or credit card numbers, officials say.

If someone is in doubt or believes they may have fallen victim to a scammer, they should hang up and immediately report the incident to local police, officials say.