Watch Out for Phone Scam

Residents across the county are being tricked by jail inmates and others who call and pretend to be sheriff's deputies, falsely alerting victims that their family members have been in an accident or jailed, according to the LASD. 

Authorities are now warning locals of the phone scam, which could hit Hermosa Beach.

Here's how the scam works: A victim receives a call from someone claiming to be a deputy, according to the LASD.

The fake deputy then tells the victim a member of his or her family has been incarcerated or in an accident, explaining they have been listed as the emergency contact.

The victim is then instructed to call a number beginning with *72 to get more information. The victim is told they have the wrong number after dialing, according to the LASD.

The victim then calls the Sheriff's Department and asks for a deputy, but by using the prefix *72 to initiate their last phone call, they have just automatically forwarded all  incoming calls to the scammer's phone number (These include collect calls from inmates who want to avoid paying for collect calls.)

Billing for the forwarded calls goes to the victim caller until that person turns off call forwarding on the phone, usually by dialing *73.

For those who believe they are victims of this scam, the Sheriff's Department recommends calling phone service providers to shut off automatic call forwarding. Also, report incidents to the California Public Utilities Commission’s consumer hotline at 800-649-7570.