In February 2020 the City of Rockford notified the community about phone call scams involving phone numbers associated with the Rockford Police Department.
According to Rockford, Illinois CBS affiliate WIFR, the Rockford Police Department was notified by the Rockford 911 Center of a phone call scam in February 2020. Residents from outside of Illinois reported receiving calls that appeared to have originated from 815-966-2900 and 779-500-6555. Both numbers are Rockford Police Department non-emergency numbers.
Criminals were spoofing the number — a technology trick that can make the receiver’s Caller ID display a number that is not authentic. In this case, the criminals wanted to trick the people they called into thinking that they were getting a call from the Rockford Police Department in order to gain trust and carry out some kind of scam. As part of the scam, the criminal callers asked potential victims for Social Security and Credit Card information.
Citizens receiving the scam phone calls were asked to note the name and phone number from the caller, and report it to the non-emergency Rockford police number at 815-966-2900.
See below why we don’t suspect that tonight’s calls were spoofing calls.
FAST FORWARD
Now fast forward to tonight. A private citizen in Arlington Heights was getting repeated calls from the Rockford Police Department number 815-966-2900 on Friday night, July 9, 2021, but did not answer any of the calls.
The private citizen happened to notify CARDINAL NEWS about the repeat phone calls when they realized the number might be coming from the Rockford Police Department.
With a little investigation CARDINAL NEWS was able to determine that the phone number that the Rockford Police Department was actually attempting to call was similar to the phone number of the private citizen. It was likely, but not initially confirmed, that the person at the Rockford Police Department either had the wrong number or was accidentally misdialing the number. The repeat calling likely happened because Rockford police were calling a phone number where they would expect an answer.
However, just in case we’re wrong and the Spoofing Scam that phished for credit card numbers and Social Security numbers is reborn; REMEMBER THIS: police departments will NEVER ask for credit card numbers or Social Security Card numbers over the phone when they call people. Don’t ever give credit card numbers or Social Security Numbers to any callers.
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