HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – To change the lyrics of a familiar holiday carol – “Tis the season to be scamming, fa la la la la, la la la la.”
Such is the tune being heard at the Holland Department of Public Safety. In a press release issued on Thursday (Oct. 28, 2021), Police Captain Robert Buursma said, “The Holland Police took two separate fraud complaints yesterday (Wednesday) from Holland residents who had received calls to their phone where caller ID showed ‘Holland Police Department.’ The phone number shown was actually the correct phone number to our department despite not originating from our department.
“In one of the instances, the victim had initially received a phone call and the caller ID showed ‘Social Security Administration’ (SSA). During that call, a person claiming to be an agent with the SSA told him there was a warrant for his arrest, and he needed to purchase gift cards and then provide the numbers off the gift cards to the caller.
“The victim, after suspecting he had been scammed, headed to the Holland Department of Public Safety to report this when he received another call. This time, caller ID showed it to be from the ‘Holland Police Department.’ He spoke to a person who claimed to be a police officer and demanded the victim call the SSA back at the number he had been previously been given, because the SSA had a warrant for his arrest and he needed to take care of it.”
Buursma continued, “In the second incident, the victim reported she had received a call and the caller ID showed it to be from the ‘Holland Police Department.’ A person claiming to be an officer told the victim she was a suspect in several crimes and would need to purchase gift cards and provide the gift card information to avoid arrest.
“In both cased, the victims had purchased some gift cards and provided the specific details of the gift cards to the caller prior to realizing this was a scam.
“Local police and other government agencies will never call demanding the purchase of gift cards or demand any type of payment over the phone.”
Buursma added some tips in the release, which is available here.
The matter remains under investigation.
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