On August 25th, 2020 at approximately 1930hrs, the Culpeper Police Department received a citizen complaint reference a possible scam phone call. The individual calling was utilizing the Police Department's phone number of (540) 727-3430 and claiming to be a police officer with our Department. This caller was adament to the citizen to send money via pre-paid debit card in order to settle a fraud investigation that the citizen was supposedly involved in. Our officer was able to hear this conversation and intervene. When our officer took over the phone call and advised this caller that he was a police officer, the caller started yelling and making claims to send multiple police officers to the location of our officer to make an arrest.

We would like public to be aware that the Culpeper Police Department will never ask for payment of crimes over the telephone. This is a "Caller ID Spoofing" Scam. If you receive a call from a person demanding monetary funds, of any kind, and they are claiming to be a police officer or government official utilizing our Culpeper Police Department phone number, HANG UP! This is a scam. Please contact our 24-hour non-emergency communications at (540) 727-7900 to report these calls.