Thieves scam Sugar Land woman using cloned police department number

SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) -- It's a story that has red flags written all over it, but a Sugar Land woman fell for the scam because the caller ID said Sugar Land Police Department.

The person on the other line told her they needed to call her back on her cell phone to give her steps on how to take care of an outstanding warrant.

It was a wild couple of hours for the woman, who asked to remain anonymous.

"For about three hours, she was on the phone with what she thought to be, at the time, the police of Sugar Land," her fiancé told ABC13.

He told Eyewitness News that the person on the other line told his fiancé she had to first take out money from her bank and then purchase a gift card to pay a fine over the phone, and eventually show up to the police department.

"They stated there was a warrant out for her arrest for not showing up to jury duty," he said.

She was scared and wanted to clear her name, so she did what she was told.

"It started her on a journey throughout Sugar Land, going from Kroger to CVS purchasing (gift cards)," her fiancé said.

He said the caller on the other line would take down the gift card information, but then tell his fiancé the card didn't work and needed to buy another one.

"Essentially, it was a way for them to take the card info over the phone as a form of payment," he said.

By the time she drove to the Sugar Land Police Department, she had already withdrawn a little over $3,000, and Sugar Land police said she was scammed.

"We will never ask for information over the phone, we certainly will never take a gift card," said Sugar Land police officer Lauren Stockholm.

Sugar Land police believe the scammers cloned the police department's number, which it says is not hard to do, and used it as bait for their victim.

"Speaking on her behalf, she certainly realizes the mistake and probably should have gone straight to the police station," he said.