Monroeville police want to warn the public about a phone scam involving someone impersonating an officer in order to obtain money.

Police Chief Doug Cole said a woman told police June 30 that someone had called her claiming to be from the department and that a family member was in jail.

The caller used what appeared to be credible tactics to trick the woman out of $2,000 in cash gift cards.

“They were able to spoof our number to our dispatch,” Cole said. “It looked like they were calling from (the station). We’ve seen this before, not directly using Monroeville’s number.”

Cole said scammers prey on family connections and try to get people to buy gift cards and other means of currency that can be hard to track. He also believes that this caller might have been from another country.

“We’ve had people use Bitcoin and put money in machines to (allegedly) help out their grandchildren,” Cole said. “They call people up and have particular information. They get it off the internet or somebody’s Facebook page. So when they call you they sound (legitimate), so that stuns the people.

“I don’t think it’s anyone local. It could be a national or international scam. Monroeville police do not solicit any money from anybody.”

Cole encouraged anyone who receives such calls to hang up and call police at 412-856-1111.

Monroeville police posted an alert about the scam on the department’s Facebook page.

Police advise calling known contact numbers including businesses and government institutions like the Internal Revenue Service.

They also recommend calling loved ones because scammers can pretend to be or know anyone even with very little information about them.

“Technology has enabled us to do many wonderful things, but it also can be used by bad people to do bad things,” the post read. “Keep yourself safe.”

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