Hartford police warn of uptick in phone schemes involving callers impersonating officers

Bad actors targeting your phone is not something new, and con artists have used phone schemes related to police departments before, like in the “grandparent scheme.” That is when a caller falsely tells someone their grandchild has been booked for something like DUI, and they need to pay up.

Now, Hartford police are warning about another trend: callers impersonating officers. They say even if a caller uses a legitimate name of an officer, they are not necessarily who they say they are.

It’s not a call that one Hebron woman expected to get when she was at work in Hartford Friday.

“When they called, they said it was the one of the Hartford police officers, and they said their name and their badge number,” Mackenzie, who felt uncomfortable sharing her last name, said.

The caller told her she failed to show up in court as a witness.

“He's like, ‘Look at your phone, the number that shows up should match the police station,’” she said. “And it did when I Googled it. So I started panicking.”

The caller also knew her address. Then he told Mackenzie she was not in compliance, and that she needed to go to the Hartford police station immediately.

​“They wanted me to stay on the line with them until I got to the station, because they said, Wwe want to make sure that you're not going to take off or run away,’” she said.

When Mackenzie’s co-workers told her the demand did not sound legitimate, the caller hung up.

​ “I got off the phone. I was like, shaking,” she said. “They play off your fear, right?”

Hartford police say impersonators, like those who attempted the “grandparent scheme,” create an evolving situation they have dealt with for years now.

“This is a scam that I think is probably as old as the telephone itself,” Harford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert said.

Since November, the Hartford Police Department has seen an uptick in complaints about callers pretending to be officers.

“We had a few incidents about a month ago, the same thing,” Boisvert said. “What they've been doing now is they're actually Googling Hartford police officers, and calling impersonating a Hartford police officer by name.”

Hartford police say a caller claiming to be a police officer will inform the potential victim that they missed a court date or have an arrest warrant, then demand various forms of payment. Police warn no officer will ever call and ask for money or demand you go to the station to pay.

​“I don't believe there has been any instance where people actually fell victim to this. I think it's more of a nuisance,” Boisvert said.

He said the fraudulent calls often come from out of state, making an investigation difficult.

​“It’s not coming from someone's home down the street,” he said. “Usually, they're very far away using all kinds of encrypted computer numbers."

However, police say there is one way to best protect yourself.

​“Just hang up the phone,” Boisvert said.

He adds that you can also report these calls to the Hartford Police Department.