CHARLEVOIX CO., MI -- A scam has surfaced in Charlevoix County, involving scammers calling people and posing as a law enforcement official, a public safety officer, or hospital employee.
Scammers create a story about a loved one being sick or in trouble. They then offer you a phone number that will give you "on the scene" updates and all you have to do is dial *72. Police say don't do it. It could cost you.
“Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Deputies will never instruct anyone to dial a phone number beginning with *72 to receive “on scene” accident information about their loved ones,” said Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider.
When you dial *72 at the beginning of a call you can activate call forwarding, if you subscribe to it. All calls to your phone number will then be forwarded to the phone number the scammers gave you. When this happens, you may be billed a charge each time a call is forwarded to the other number. You may also be billed long distance charges, pay-per-call charges, and collect call charges, if applicable. All calls will continue to be forwarded until this feature is turned off. (In most cases *73 stops call forwarded, but it can vary from carrier to carrier.)
You may have call forwarding as a feature of your landline or wireless service. If you are unsure if you have it, ask your phone company. Not all call forwarding is activated by *72. If you have call forwarding, Sheriff Schneider suggests you find out how to use it, as well as all your other services so that you can avoid becoming a victim of this type of scam.
If this does happen to you, call your phone company to dispute the charges. They may advise you to file a police report and/or contact the Attorney General’s complaint line. For more safety tips, Sheriff Schneider encourages residents to visit the Michigan Sheriff’s Association website at www.misheriff.org where you can sign up to receive monthly newsletters. Founded in 1877 the Michigan Sheriff’s Association is the oldest law enforcement organization in Michigan.
