RPMT member warns of encounter with phone scammers

The following information was released by the Rossmoor Predator Management Team (RPMT). A team member describes a recent encounter with phone scammers.

I received a voice mail message from an unfamiliar area code claiming to be from a senior investigator stating that I apparently have an association with a particular individual, and that check fraud was involved.

The message left a “county case number,” a 714 area telephone number and extension, and said everything would be explained to me if I called.

I was immediately suspicious, because it seems to me anyone doing a legitimate investigation would not leave that kind of information in voice mail.

I also did not recognize the name of the so-called person I was purportedly connected to.

So I telephoned the operator, and she told me the 919 area code was from South Carolina. That fit with the accent I heard in the voice mail, but I don’t know a soul in South Carolina and have never been there.

Next the operator looked up the 714 telephone number and could not find any business or government agency with that phone number. She advised that I not return that telephone call because a government agency or legitimate business would have a listed number.

Previously I have received a number of voice mails seeking people who have not lived at my address for several years. These are recorded messages telling me that this message is for so and so, if I am not that person to hang up.

The operator advised that I ask the phone company to block those calls.

I believe both kinds of calls are scams, and wonder if other people have received similar calls.

I was able to learn more about the first call simply by googling the phone number from which the call came: 919-323-3885. There are a number of complaints about calls from that number. I am requesting that it be blocked since this is not the first time these folks have tried this.