The Midland Police Department (MPD) has alerted residents to a scam call in which the alleged caller identifies themselves as interim Chief of Police Greg Snow. According to the Permian Basin law enforcement agency, the message is a scam and was not approved by Snow.
According to a June 12 Facebook post by MPD, the department does not call the public regarding warrants or payments and urges residents to stay vigilant.
Should a citizen receive such a call, they should not provide any personal information or payment details, according to the post.
This is not the first time Midland residents have been warned about bogus calls from local law enforcement.
Midland Times reported last month that Midland County Sheriff David Criner had to warn residents about ongoing phone scams. The publication reported that Criner stated his department will never call and demand money over the phone instead of making an arrest.
According to Government Technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in phone scams because the public tends to fall for them easily. Joan Lawcewicz, a financial crimes investigator from Wisconsin, stated in the report that people must safeguard their Social Security numbers as even the last four digits could provide a gateway for scammers.