INFORMATION RELEASE

 The holidays are almost here and it seems like scammers have decided to double down to increase their efforts in attempting to take your money, or your identity.

Many scams try to offer fraudulent financial offers or services. I’m sure a lot of people either received or heard about the “Free Netlix for a year” text or email. This was just another long line of scams in order to entice people to provide their personal information.

Sometimes, scammers will try to represent businesses and send our requests to updated personal information on a website. These websites can often look almost identical to the real thing. Don’t follow included links, but go to the site directly.

Recently, JPD has received a few calls from community members who reported receiving telephone calls about people’s children/grandchildren being held hostage/abducted because they “witnessed a drug deal and things they shouldn’t have”. The callers are saying they are in the Safeway or Walmart parking lot and demanding money and “no calling the cops”. In addition, the call is starting with a male with a southern accent, and then a female is put on the phone pleading for help. These calls can be very scary, as the people are very intense with their claims, so it seems real.

This type of scam is just a new version of the “a car was found on the border filled with drugs and your blood and information and if you want this to go away, send us money” in gift card form.

If you receive a call like this, stay calm and try to contact the person directly to ensure they are safe. Do not give out any personal information or money to these people. When you know these scams are fake, it's still a good idea to make an online report to JPD. Online reports are a quick way to notify JPD of non-emergency crimes. To file an online report, please go to JPD – File a Report – City and Borough of Juneau

If you still believe the call may be real, please call the Juneau Police Department on our non-emergency line, (907) 586-0600.

The FBI provides several resources on their website about scams and other related internet crimes. Here is a link to the FBI.gov website for a list of common scams: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes.