Prince George’s County Police Department issues warning after spoofed by phone scammer

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The Prince George's County Police Department has issued a warning after they say a scammer is spoofing them.

Officials say a scammer is using one of the department's numbers to falsify their caller ID information and disguise their identify.

"PGPD will never ask for money or personal information over the phone," law enforcement officials said in a Twitter post.

The Federal Communications Commission says scammers often spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust.

The FCC says another technique used is called neighbor spoofing, so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number.

Here are Some Tips From the FCC to Avoid Spoofing

Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.

If you answer the phone and the caller - or a recording - asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.

Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with "Yes" or "No."

Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.

If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company's or government agency's website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.

Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.

If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.

Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device. The FCC allows phone companies to block robocalls by default based on reasonable analytics. More information about robocall blocking is available at fcc.gov/robocalls.

Remember to check your voicemail periodically to make sure you aren't missing important calls and to clear out any spam calls that might fill your voicemail box to capacity.