Authorities are investigating a series of fraudulent phone calls in Merrimack County from scammers posing as victims' family members or police officers. Merrimack County Sheriff David Croft said he has received dozens of reports of fraudulent phone calls this month from possible victims living in Merrimack County. He said the scammers are suspected of using artificial intelligence to manipulate the voice and caller ID. “These people can randomly call individuals and the caller ID will show it as a call from my office. It's the Merrimack County Sheriff's Office,” Croft said. Croft said some victims reported receiving calls from scammers posing as former or current police officers. He said some victims were told they had warrants out for their arrest and would have to pay fines to have them expunged. Croft said other potential victims also received calls from scammers posing as family members and demanded they make a deposit at a bitcoin ATM in Manchester. “Someone calls their grandparents and says, 'Hi Grandma, this is Johnny. I'm at the Paris Olympics. Someone stole my wallet and I want you to send me some money so I can get home,'” Croft said. “When that money is transferred, it becomes a nightmare for the police. It goes automatically to a digital wallet and is quickly sent out of the country.” Croft said the police department is aware of at least two people who have been victims of scam calls, one of whom deposited $5,000 at a bitcoin ATM in Manchester. While police are investigating a string of scam calls, Croft said all they can do is tell people what's going on and hope they listen. “Police will never ask you to go and deposit money to clear a warrant. If you get a call, always call and check,” Croft said.
Boscawen, New Hampshire —
Authorities are investigating a series of fraudulent phone calls in Merrimack County by scammers posing as victims' family members or police.
Merrimack County Sheriff David Croft said he has received dozens of reports of scam calls from potential victims in Merrimack County this month, and he said he suspects the scammers are using artificial intelligence to manipulate voices and caller ID.
“These guys can randomly call individuals and it will show up on the caller ID as a call from my office. It will show up as the Merrimack County Sheriff's Office,” Croft said.
Croft said some victims had reported receiving calls from scammers posing as former or serving police officers, while others had been told they had warrants out for their arrest and would have to pay a fine to have them cleared.
Croft said other potential victims had also received calls from fraudsters posing as family members and demanding they deposit money at a Bitcoin ATM in Manchester.
“Someone calls their grandparents and says, 'Grandma, it's Johnny. I'm at the Olympics in Paris. Someone stole my wallet. I need you to send me some money so I can get home,'” he says. “When that money is transferred, it becomes a nightmare for the police. The money automatically goes into a digital wallet and is quickly sent out of the country.”
Croft said police were aware of at least two people who had fallen victim to the scam call, including someone who had deposited $5,000 at a Bitcoin ATM in Manchester.
While police were investigating the string of scam calls, Croft said all he could do was tell people what was going on and hope they would listen.
“Police will never ask you to go and deposit money to clear a warrant, so if you get a call, always call and verify,” Croft said.
