Boynton Beach Police are warning the public that a man may be calling senior citizens and pretending to be a lieutenant with the Palm beach Sheriff's Office. He may be tricking people into believing that they owe money for failing to stop at red lights.
In a statement, police said that an 80-year-old woman answered a call from a man who claimed to be "Lieutenant James Duncan." He advised that she had run a red light on March 3 and needed to pay a fine. He asked the make, model, and year of her vehicle and said he would call back.
But the sly woman would not be tricked. She called police to see if Duncan was indeed one of the men in blue.
There was no lieutenant named Duncan at PBSO, and though there was a deputy by that name, police determined he hadn't made the fraudulent calls. They got the scammer's number from the woman's caller ID. A voicemail said to "press 1 to speak to Lt. James Duncan," but the number was disconnected shortly after authorities started investigating.
Boynton Beach Police say this scam has been reported in Arizona and in other Florida counties. They emphasize that anyone with a legitimate red-light violation will receive a citation via snail mail and that the public should not give out sensitive personal information like social security numbers or credit card info to strangers via phone.
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