Report: Phone scammers using YPD number

Yuma police are warning residents about a phone scam in which the call shows up as coming from the police department’s 928-783-4421 phone number.

Sgt. Lori Franklin explains that Yuma police have received several calls reporting the scam, and it appears that scammers are now spoofing one of the department’s non-emergency phone numbers.

Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise the identity of the caller. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number.

They may also spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust.

Franklin said the first victim received a call from someone identifying themselves as an officer with the Social Security Administration. The caller then told the victim they had warrants for their arrest. The caller identified himself as Victor Hughes and gave the address of 315 N. Washington St., Rockwell, MD, which is the actual address of the Social Security Administration.

A second call came from the YPD non-emergency number, in which the caller identified himself as Hans Marshal, a police officer with YPD. He corroborated the story that Victor Hughes told and advised the victim that they needed to pay for the warrants.

Both callers had information about the victim’s address, as well as names of family members.

A second scam call received by a different victim was from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Administration who asked for the local police department number. The victim gave them the non-emergency number for YPD, 928-783-4421, and the next call the victim received was from that number.

“Please do not fall for these scams,” Franklin urged. “Neither the Yuma Police Department nor any other government agency will call you and tell you to send money to pay for an arrest warrant or any other issue.”

She continued by asking residents to exercise caution with phone calls from unfamiliar numbers, especially when they originate from out of the country.

“If you do answer a call like this, do not give out any personal information,” Franklin said.