There's nothing better than seeing a phone scammer get a taste of their own medicine.
A North Carolina police captain had the chance for a little fun at work after a con artist threatened her with arrest for crimes ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering.
Captain Ann Stephens received the call on her cell phone last week from a man who claimed to be "Officer John Black" who asked the captain verify how many bank accounts she owned and other types of personal information such as the last four digits of her Social Security number and her home address.
The fake officer informed the police captain that there were 25 phony bank accounts in her name that had been used to commit fraud around the world. If Stephens didn't cooperate with "Officer Black," a sheriff's deputy would arrive at her location within 45 minutes to place her under arrest - a fact Stephens found quite amusing.
Stephens shared the phone call to the Apex Police Department's Facebook page as part of an effort to warn residents against the scam robocalls and remind them to never give out personal information like their Social Security numbers or home address.
In the video, the caller is placed on speaker while he attempts to manipulate Capt. Stephens into giving him information about the number of bank accounts connected to her social security number. She plays the game for a few minutes, until requesting to speak with a "supervisor."
“If you don’t tell me then we’ll go ahead and suspend all the bank accounts that are connected to your Social Security,” the caller tells Stephens. “So don’t blame us if you lose any money. We are trying to help you out over here.”
However, Stephens, wasn't sold on the scammer's plea.
“I want to know what the allegations are against me and what you’re going to take out a warrant for,” she says.
They respond that there are “two criminal charges against you, [number 1], drug trafficking, and number two, money laundering,”
However, as soon as Stephens points out a major discrepancy in the scammer's story, the caller hangs up, ending the call.
The scam generally ends with an offer from the con artists to "take care of" the victim's legal or financial troubles by having them send money, usually using prepaid gift cards or money transfers.
The PSA is dearly needed as evidenced by the fact that more than 16.3 BILLION spam phone calls were made in 2018 across the U.S. according to YouMail. One FCC report on robocalls found that the number of spam calls has increased dramatically in recent years and will make up nearly half of all phone calls in 2019.
Robocalls continue to be a problem, despite people's best efforts. Auto-dialing software is cheap and easy to use and widely available. The FCC says they're working with phone companies to reduce the number of unwanted calls.
But, until the robocall beast has been destroyed, at least people can have a little fun at the scammer's expense like Captain Stephens.
"Folks, these are scam calls. Don’t ever give out your information. Don’t every verify your information, even if they have it," Stephens said.