Duluth police warn of 'interesting' phone scam

If the chief of police calls to tell you that you’re the lucky recipient of a $1 million Publishers Clearing House prize, be suspicious.
That’s the message from the Duluth Police Department, which passed along a warning about a creative new scam that could be making the rounds.
Spokesman Ron Tinsley said Chief Mike Tusken’s secretary was tipped off to the scam when she received a call from a concerned citizen Wednesday.
The scammer, posing as Tusken, called the would-be victim with news of the prize but stated that it had been falsely claimed by someone else, according to police. The Tusken impersonator said he was working with two New York City detectives to get it back.
The tipster reported receiving a follow-up call from someone posing as one of the detectives, stating that “the chief was a little angry about being questioned.” The scammer didn’t directly ask for money, but told the would-be victim to give gift cards to a Federal Express driver who would be arriving, according to police.
“The caller in this scam incident not only used the chief’s name (but) gave out the Duluth police front desk and the chief’s direct phone number,” police said in a statement. “This is a very interesting scam as our department will never call informing you of winnings from any business nor ask you give a delivery driver gift cards.”
Police said anyone receiving a similar call should simply hang up. The scam is being investigated by police, Tinsley said.