As artificial intelligence is becoming more popular, the “bad actors” or scammers are utilizing the sound and voice recognition to sound very convincing and try and scam individuals. Monmouth Police Department Investigator Josh Kramer shares there have been reports of scammers impersonating local officers:
“Locally we have had local police officer’s voices being used telling the person that since they missed court, we can take care of this on the phone right now, just need you to go buy an Apple or Amazon gift card. That are things we do not do. No law enforcement agency is going to call and say you missed court, you missed a fine, we can take care of this on the phone right now, that is just not how any of them operate. If you get those phone calls, go ahead and hang up. If you do start talking to them, they are going to sound convincing and I promise you, that is not the case. Make sure you don’t run out to Walgreens or go to your bank to get any sort of funds to provide those people, that is just not how we do business.”
Investigator Kramer says to be mindful of who may be on the other side of the phone call, the phone number may look legit, however the caller might be a scammer.