Full Notification

Phone scam in Altadena / Pasadena area

This is a warning to everyone about sheriff / police impersonators calling residents and saying, “There is a warrant out for your arrest, and if you don’t pay up, you’ll be arrested."

An Altadena resident was called at their house by a man from 626 area code, local phone number, saying at he was a L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy. The deputy told our resident they had two warrants for arrest for missing jury duty. They also said a $1000 cash bond was needed to be paid, or they would be arrested. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will not call you to demand money for arrest warrants. If you are contacted over the phone and are suspicious, ask for the callers name and employee number and call our station, (626) 798-1131 or whichever police department they are representing and ask to verify the information.

If the caller tells you to put money on a prepaid card and give him the card number. Now your scam-detecting radar is going off the charts. Police departments — and the federal government, for that matter — don’t tell people to pay with prepaid cards. You also know using a prepaid card is like paying cash — once the money is gone, you can’t get it back.

More sophisticated scammers may have caller ID that shows the local police departments name. It may seem like reliable information about the source of a call isn’t so reliable anymore. 

Scammers can rig caller ID to look like they’re calling from the police department. Or, really, anywhere — even your own number. Don’t rely on caller ID. It’s not foolproof. Scammers can easily spoof it to try to gain your trust. If it looks like the police are calling, call our non-emergency phone number (626) 798-1131 and call to find out if the story is legit. You’ll soon learn it’s a scam.

Report the imposter to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/complaint Select the category “Scams and Rip-offs” then “Impostor Scams”.