By STACI GUY

Daily Press Staff Writer

The Artesia Police Department is warning residents about yet another scam, this time by threats of a lawsuit.

According to APD spokesman Sgt. Lindell Smith, their department received a report from a woman who said she was contacted via telephone by a person of “Middle Eastern descent” who claimed he was calling in reference to a pending lawsuit against the woman.

Smith said the man on the phone asked the woman for her identifying information, including her social security number.

“The reason this woman called us was because he used the term ‘lawsuit’ and it scared her; she thought she was being sued,” Smith said.

After receiving the report from the woman, Smith said he then called the phone number the woman gave him and asked for the same person with whom the woman had spoken earlier. He said a man of Middle Eastern descent answered the phone and proceeded to argue with Smith about the nature of the call and the legal ramifications of using a telephone to threaten, harass or annoy people. “The call ended with him hanging up on me,” Smith said. “Everything from the phone number, to the company name, to the way in which he handled the call indicates to me it’s a scam.”

The one thing Smith said he wants the public to know is that individuals filing lawsuits will not do so by way of telephone. “Calling someone over the phone and threatening a law suit is not how lawsuits are done,” he said. “There are legal procedures that go through the courts, so there will be paperwork, not phone calls.”

“Companies that call and garble the name of their company or seem untrue probably aren’t legitimate companies,” he added.

Other residents have also reported receiving similar threatening telephone calls and according to Smith, such calls are not only annoying, but against the law. “The elements of the crime are unlawfully using a telephone to threaten,” he said.

Smith advises the public to “use your best judgment” in dealing with such phone calls, and if necessary, contact police.

“Whatever you do, do not give them any information; not a birth date, or Social Security number or anything,” he said.

« Top »