South SF police warn of scammers using spoofed department phone number

Police in South San Francisco are warning residents to be on the lookout for a phone scam in which the call shows up as coming from the police department’s phone number.

The call uses the spoofed South San Francisco Police Department phone number (650) 877-8900 when it shows up on the victim’s caller ID. Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to a caller ID to disguise the caller’s identity. Police said the scam involves someone claiming the victim is under investigation, has an outstanding warrant or is subject to arrest for various reasons including having bad credit or an outstanding parking ticket. The scammer will try to threaten the victim with arrest unless the victim pays fees via MoneyGram or prepaid gift cards.

The police department wants to remind residents it does not call private citizens requesting money.

Anyone who receives one of these calls is encouraged to end the call immediately.

Victims of the scam who suffer a monetary loss are asked to report the incident to police.