Police Incident Reports A Selection of Noteworthy Incident Reports

Incidents listed are selected by the Officer In Charge of each shift that may have significant public interest. Incidents listed are not inclusive of all incidents. To view Calls for Services information, please visit communitycrimemap.com. Requests for information can be directed to the MPD Records Unit: (608) 266-4075.

Incident Report for Case #2022-000000

Incident Type

Fraud

Incident Date

11/09/2022 - 2:00 PM

Address

211 S. Carroll St. (MPD Central District)

Details

Recently, there has been an uptick in scams targeting elderly victims. This increasing trend has been seen in our community and others, and has many different forms.

These scams take many forms, but are typically seen when the intended victim receives a call from someone pretending to be their grandchild or a loved one. The "grandchild," in reality is the scammer, and often times will sound panicked and will be asking for help. The scammer will claim that they've been in a car accident, have been arrested, or were the victim of some kind of crime. The scammer will then ask for money, usually with a demand that the victim deliver this immediately and not talk to anyone about the situation.

We have seen situations lately where the scammers will ask for cash, and send a "courier," to collect the cash. Other circumstances will ask for bank or credit card information. MPD has also dealt with circumstances where the scammer asks for the victim to go to a Bitcoin ATM and complete a transaction that way.

The Madison Police Department wants to remind the community of some general safety tips related to identification and prevention of these scams.
  • If you are receiving a phone call from a number that you don't know and the person on the other end claims to be a relative, it is ok to hang up and try to reach that relative at a known phone number. This pause can save you the headache of being scammed!
 
  • If someone is claiming to be in legal trouble or at a jail, ask them which jail or facility they are at. Then, make a phone call to verify if that is the case by contacting that jail/law enforcement agency directly!
 
  • If someone asks you to complete a financial transaction at a Bitcoin ATM or other similar ATM, and this is out of the ordinary, stop and verify all information before doing so. Make calls to the person you believe is asking for money, and make sure you know the implications of such transactions.
 
  • Remember, no government official will ask you to pay fines or fees with gift cards from Amazon, Target, or any other store. If you have been directed to purchase these items, do not read off the codes for the cards to anyone over the phone.?
 
  • Do not give out personally identifying information, such as a bank account number or Social Security Number to a person or website you don't know and trust. 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of this kind of a scam while in the City of Madison, please contact the Madison Police Department at 608-255-2345.

Released 11/09/2022 at 2:12 PM by P.O. Hunter Lisko

The location shown is approximate & may not be accurate.