Latrobe police warn of scam calls using department's phone number

The phone number for the Latrobe Police Department is being used in a scam targeting community members, according to authorities.

Police reported receiving several calls Monday about the scam. The caller used the police department’s phone number as the caller ID and claimed that a Social Security number was compromised for some reason.

Police advised residents to avoid talking to scam callers. Anyone who receives a potential scam call that appears to be from the Latrobe Police Department can check with the community service officer at 724-537-5526.

Scammers can deliberately change the information transmitted to a caller ID display — called spoofing — to make it appear that a phone call is coming from a trusted source, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

These types of callers try to get personal information from the person on the other end of the call for potential use in fraudulent activity, according to Latrobe police and the FCC. Anyone who answers this type of call is advised by police and the FCC to hang up.

A call taker who is unsure of a phone call that appears to be from a government agency can hang up and call a number for that agency found in a phone book or online to verify the request, the FCC advises.

Anyone transmitting false caller ID information with malicious intent can face penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation, according to the FCC.

These types of calls can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at donotcall.gov. Anyone who has lost money through a scam call or has information about the person or company who called can report that information at ftc.gov/complaint.