Moline Police Warn Residents of a Scam that’s Targeting the Elderly

The Moline Police Department is warning residents about a scam going around the community that is targeting the elderly.

In a social media post on Tuesday, officials from the Moline Police Department said that they have received reports of citizens falling for scams and losing large sums of their money. These scams are more frequently targeting the elderly.

Officials ask that people speak with the older members of your family about these scams so they don't fall for them.

The Moline Police Department listed some reminders about how these scams normally happen and how to not fall for them:

• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will never call you, unless you have first called them.
• The IRS will never ask you to pay back taxes by preloading gift cards at Wal-Mart and giving the numbers over the phone.
• If you have an actual criminal warrant the police department will not call you.
  • Officials say they tend to just show up to serve warrants.
• Police will never ask you to take care of an arrest warrant by going to Wal-Mart and preloading gift cards.
• Even though your caller ID may show the police departments phone number and name, it may not be them calling.
  • Officials say there are apps that easily allow someone to have whatever name and number they want to pop up when they call you. If you are ever questioning whether or not you are speaking to a real Moline Police Officer, call 309-797-0401 and confirm that who you are speaking to is an actual officer.
• If you receive a call that seems odd, just hang up.
  • If you or someone receiving a suspicious call has concerns, call the police or the agency where the caller claimed to work.

The Moline Police Department says there is no need to call them if you received a call and hung up on the scammer. They say when they do receive reports regarding people who have fallen for the scam and lost money, there is sadly not much that can be done to retrieve the money.

More details can be found in the post below.