Scammer posing as a cop in new telephone scheme

Acton police urge residents to be on the alert after a telephone scammer posed as an officer and demanded money.

A resident who got the call late last month sensed something was off, police Lt. Tim Landers told The Acton Bridge. Rather than open her wallet, Landers said, the resident laughed and called CPD. 

Landers wouldn’t release specifics of the ruse but said the scammer claimed the resident owed the police money. CPD will never call or email people asking for payments, Landers said. 

He said he hadn’t heard of other recent similar incidents in the Acton area, but in general, scammers are upping their game. 

Landers said his own mother got a slightly different call, in which someone pretended to be his son calling for help after an arrest. A caller in these so-called “grandparent scams” might say they need money for bail. 

In this case, the scammer said he’d been at a funeral with his uncle, and was riding home with a friend of the uncle when they got pulled over, Landers said. The caller said cops found drugs in the car.

Like the Acton resident in recent weeks, Landers’ mom didn’t bite.

She said, “Call your father, he’s probably working at the police station,” Landers recalled. “They immediately hung up.” 

Landers said his mother saw through the ruse, but she told him that the person was convincing.

Artificial intelligence is helping swindlers, some based abroad, create synthetic voices that sound eerily similar to a loved one’s, Landers said. “That’s really scary.”

Police are investigating the recent impersonation case. Landers said they’re also planning an event soon at the Council on Aging with tips on how to detect a con.