Scammers Turn To Caller ID 'Spoofing' To Pose As Police

Most people know to hang up on con artists supposedly calling from the power company or the IRS, demanding money. The problem is, there's little the police can do — even when the scammers go so far as to impersonate the police themselves.

The fake police scam, or "spoofing," has been making the rounds for the last year or so.

Commander Joseph Chacon of the Austin Police Department's intelligence division says they saw a wave of these calls this spring from people claiming to be Austin police.

"We've seen them saying that they need to send money so they can get a loved one out of jail," Chacon says. The scammers "want them to buy cash cards and then give them the card numbers over the phone, and then they're able to take that money and use it."

But why would anyone fall for that? The simple answer: caller ID.

"We have people that are calling using 'spoof' numbers that are very similar or identical to numbers that we use, that we call from," he says.

"Spoofed" calls are calls that come in showing an altered number on the caller ID.

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