Police warn of new phone scam in northern Ohio

The Amherst Police Department is warning residents of a new phone scam in the area.

The Amherst Police Department is warning residents of a new phone scam in the area.

In this scam, an unknown person called a local resident and identified themselves as an employee of the IRS, Internal Revenue Service, according to an Amherst police Facebook post.

This unknown person questioned the resident in regards to sensitive information such as where they resided, stores they shopped at and bank account information.

This unknown person advised the resident of under arrest unless they paid the Amherst Police Department money.

They attempted to have the resident withdraw money out of the bank , threatened arrest as a scare tactic and advised the resident not to make contact with anyone in regards to this matter.

The post said the Amherst Police Department will never make threats toward anyone in regards to sending money.

This type of scam has happened in the past.

In some of the prior scams, a caller had a male voice with a heavy Indian accent while other callers were robotic.

The phone number shown on caller ID have imitated/spoofed the Amherst Police Department’s phone number of 440-988-2625.

This is done in an effort to trick the resident/victim, the post said.

To avoid scams such as this, Amherst police ask residents to be vigilant by screening the call and waiting for the caller to leave a message.

Use caution when answering personal questions from unsolicited callers and avoid sending or wiring money, police said.

If there is any doubt as to the authenticity of a call, hang-up and take the necessary steps to research the organization or agency from which the caller claims to be calling.