Milford Police Investigating Phone Scam

The Milford Police Department is currently investigating two separate complaints involving telephone scams.

On Sept. 16, a victim reported that she received a phone call from a male who identified himself as “Marshall” from the IRS stating she owed them $4,000. The male told her she had 30 minutes to pay them the outstanding balance or she would be arrested.


The male directed her to purchase Green Dot Money Pack cards, load the money on them and provide him with the transaction numbers off the rear of the card over the phone for payment. The victim did so, providing the male with the transaction numbers which allowed him access to $2,000.

Afterwards, the victim felt that this was suspicious and called police. On Sept. 20, 2013 police received a second complaint involving the use of Green Dot Money Pack cards.

The victim was a local business owner who received a phone call from a male identifying himself as “Mike Lopez” from the United Illuminating Company. The male told the business owner that the utility company was changing over their electrical meters and the business needed to zero out their outstanding balance due prior to this taking place or their electrical service would be terminated.

The male instructed the business owner to purchase two Green Dot Money Pack cards, load the money on them and call him back to provide the transaction numbers of the rear of the card over the phone for payment. After doing this, the business owner provided the male with the transaction numbers of the card which have the scammer access to $800.

Police are warning residents that legitimate businesses and government agencies do not conduct business transactions in this manner by instructing victims to purchase Green Dot Money Pack cards.

Once the scammer gets the numbers from the back of the card, they can use it reload the funds onto a prepaid Green Dot Visa or Mastercard, add money to a PayPal account without using a bank account or make same-day payments to major companies.

Verify any unsolicited business transaction requests by contacting the company yourself by a number or email address you obtain. If you receive a suspicious call of this nature, please contact your local police department and the business or agency the scammer claims to be a representative from.

As these cards are sold in several retail stores, police are asking retailers to monitor these types of activities and contact police. Green Dot has a fraud reporting number to contact as well at (800) GREEN DOT and their website www.greendot.com has information regarding how to avoid common scams related to their products.

Release courtesy of the Milford Police Department